The Interesting Life of Lavinia
by Heart of the Night Fury
Summary: Lavinia was not a happy little girl. For the first eight years of her life she had lived with her drunk, abusive dad. And after a bad fight one night, Lavinia wakes up in a strange ally, badly hurt and filthy. Its seems like it's the end for her. But then she meets four, young turtle boys who will change her life forever. 2k12 Universe. Rated T. Pairing will come later... ;)
1. Four Turtles and A Rat

**You're probably asking yourself, "Why does she do this?" "Why does she keep making new stories?" "Why won't she focus more on the ones she already has up?"**

**My response:**

**Why did the scorpion sting the frog? Why did the cat attack the mouse? Why did I eat my brother's Subway cookie?**

**The answer:**

**IT'S IN OUR DAMN NATURE! THAT'S WHY! (Though, i honestly didn't think my brother still wanted his cookie. I mean, he left it up there for two days, what was i suppose to think?! XP)**

**But we're not here for corny references or delicious treats! Nope! We're here for my new story... For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!**

**Now, for the description: This all takes place before the show starts. All the turtles and my OC are eight years old when this story starts. The stuff from the actual show won't come on until later. Oh! And if you're imagination is kinda suckish, just imagine my OC as the eight-year-old Elsa. Except she has brown eyes instead of blue, and she doesn't have a braid.**

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MY OC! GOT IT? GOOD! NOW, GO!**

* * *

The Interesting Life of Lavinia

Prologue: Part 1  
Four Turtles and a Rat

I was sitting on the single recliner we owned, curled up under a dark blanket. It was as thin as paper and itchy like wool, but it was the only blanket I had to myself- the only blanket I was _allowed _to have to myself. I stared blankly at the TV, which had nothing but black and white static marks all over the screen. It had been working a little while ago when I first turned it on, but the satellite dish must've gotten messed up or something, because after a while it stopped working. I would've turned it off, but I was scared I would break it in some way. Daddy might get mad if I do that, and I don't like it when he's mad. Especially after he gets home from work. And even less when he stays out later and comes home smelling funny, his cloths covered in stale drink.

_Thump… Thump… Thump…_

My head snapped up from resting on the arm of the recliner. Daddy was home! _Oh no… _At once I hopped off the chair and fell onto the floor, rolling up in my blanket in the process. I kicked, pushed, and struggled until I had managed to squirm my way out. As soon as I did I jumped to my feet and ran over to the recliner, pushing my hands across the cushion to get all of the wrinkles out. I must not leave any trace that I was there. I'm not allowed to sit in daddy's chair, but it's _so _comfy. And if he found out that I sat in his chair while he wasn't here…

I heard the lock on the door click loudly and I ran over to the TV and turned it off. I quickly drug over the small wooden stool, which was the only thing I could sit in. With my blanket wrapped around me, I sat down on the stool. Any minute now, he'll be coming-

_BAMB!_

I flinched slightly at the sound of the door slamming, but otherwise, didn't move. The door slammed again, this time closing. I could hear gruff noises coming from the man who had just entered, as well as loud slopping noises. I turned to look at him, and saw dark stains on his white T-shirt and he was drinking out of a brown bottle in his hand.

"Hi, daddy…"

"Don't 'hi daddy' me," he snapped. "Get out so I can watch TV."

I nodded and stood up-

"Answer me!"

"Y-yes, daddy…"

I quickly grabbed my stool and, keeping my head down, I shuffled out of the living room. I used one hand to drag the stool and one to keep the blanket wrapped around me. I was in front of my bedroom door and about to open it when there was a furious yell.

"You little bitch! What the hell did you do to the TV?!"

I whimpered. Daddy was swearing again. I don't like it when he swears like that. Bad things happen when he does. I dropped the stool and scrambled to get the door open. I swung it open and ran inside, jumping into bed and pulling the blanket over me, as though the thin fabric would somehow protect me. The loud thumping of footsteps sounded in the hallway. A second later there was a loud _bam_ as the door was kicked open. Daddy was standing in the doorway, still holding his brown bottle.

"I didn't do anything, daddy-"

"The hell you didn't!"

Daddy stomped over to me, his free hand reaching out for me. I whimpered as I curled up more under the blanket, unable to move. Daddy jumped on me as he grabbed my tiny throat in his big, strong hand, pinning me to my bed. I spluttered as I lifted my hands up and tried to smack his wrist, but he only squeezed harder. I looked up in time to see daddy's brown bottle above me before a dark, smelly liquid was poured on my face. The stuff got in my eyes and I yelled as they started to burn. As I yelled the liquid got in my mouth and starting going down my throat. It went through my nose and started to make my throat burn and dry up. I was coughing and choking as it went on and on, daddy's hand still holding my neck. Once it was over I spat out whatever stuff was left in my mouth… and accidentally hit daddy's face. He let out an angry growl and threw the bottle so it smashed against the wall.

"You can clean that up after I'm done with you!"

Daddy released my neck and then grabbed my hair. I yelped in pain as he yanked me up off the bed and started dragging me out of the room by my hair. We were in the living room heading to the front door when I yelled.

"D-daddy, stop! P-please! I'm sorry!"

He stopped moving suddenly. "Telling me what to do now, huh?" he growled. "You just won't learn, will you?"

The pain in my head had increased and I was scared to the point where I was starting to cry. Daddy made another angry noise before he threw me on the floor. As I landed on my stomach my head hit the floor and I saw tiny stars. Daddy dug his knee into my back to pin me to the floor, and I felt him grab my left leg with both of his hands.

"This'll teach you a lesson, you worthless bitch!"

There was a loud _pop_ and suddenly pain shot up through my entire left leg. I screamed and shouted in pain, digging my hands into the ground. It hurt so, _so _bad! I just wanted it to end…

* * *

I think I blacked out for a bit, because the next thing I knew I was laying facedown in concrete. It was pouring outside, and I was completely soaked through my yellow pajama shirt and pants. I coughed a bit, and I tasted dirt. I looked around and saw I was in a dark ally, far away from my home. I pushed myself up and tried to move my legs, and yelped in pain. My left let was hurting very badly and I couldn't move it. I slowly turned around to sit on my butt and held my left leg gently. The rain pounded against my head, the cold water soaking my hair and numbing my skin. Being cold, in pain, not to mention hungry, I laid there and started crying, harder this time. What should I do now? I didn't know how to live out here. Daddy never let me out of the house, I didn't even know where I was!

"Psst…"

I thought I heard something from in the ally, but I ignored it, wiping my eyes off with my soaked sleeve.

"Psst!"

I heard it again, and this time I looked up. Just a few feet in front of me was a large manhole that I knew led to the sewers, it's lid laying to the side(I knew what they were because daddy threaten to shove me in one once). Someone was poking their head out from inside the hole, and I saw two bright blue eyes staring at me.

"Hey," a voice called to me.

It was then that I realized it was a boy. He sounded like he was my age. I sniffed loudly, not feeling very scared at the moment. Maybe he was friendly?

"Hello…" I called back to him.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

"No…my leg hurts…"

For a moment it was quiet except for the pounding of the rain, and the splashes of the small puddles. Then the boy pushed himself out of the manhole and stood up on the ground. He was pretty tall. He slowly walked over to me until he was only a few steps away. The light from a nearby street lamp was enough for me to see his face.

I wasn't sure what to think of his appearance for a few moments. But after looking him up and down I saw what he was. He looked like a giant, walking turtle, with a shell and everything. Not only that, he was wearing a large blue bandana that covered his head.

"Are you a turtle?" I asked, a little curiously.

"Yeah. Not a normal one, but yeah."

I looked him up and down. "That's…pretty neat."

He took a step forward. "You're not…gonna scream?"

"No… Why?"

"My dad said if people saw me and my brothers that they might be scared of us," he tilted his head. "You're not scared, are you?"

I shook my head. "N-no… Should I be?"

"I don't think so."

There was a pause.

"My name's Leonardo," said the boy. "But my brothers call me Leo. What's your name?"

I sniffed, smiling a little. "Lavinia…"

"That's a nice name," Leo smiled, then it faded. "How did you hurt yourself?"

I gulped. "I…I made my daddy mad. We had a fight…"

Leo didn't say anything, neither did I. I wasn't sure what to say. I sat up a little more but the movement made my leg throb and I whimpered. Leo walked closer and kneeled down in front of me.

"Can you move it?" he asked.

"No… If I do it hurts more…"

I started crying a little bit, but not too much. I didn't want to look like a baby in front of a boy, not even a turtle-boy.

"Wait here."

I looked up to see that Leo stood up and walked over to the manhole. He bent over and brought his hands to cup his mouth.

"Guys! It's okay! Come on up!"

And he stood back. A second later three large shapes shot up out of the manhole. I gasped as all three landed next to Leo. It took me a moment to realize that these were turtles, too. Each of them had a bandana on, as well- one orange, one purple, and one red.

"These are my brothers," said Leo.

I sniffed, and lifted a hand up. "Hi…"

The boy wearing orange said 'hi' cheerfully, the one wearing purple waved, but the one wearing red just glared at Leo.

"She didn't freak out, huh?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"You didn't hear her scream, did you?" Leo turned to the boy in purple. "Her leg's really hurting, Donnie. Think you can check it?"

The turtle-boy known as 'Donnie' slowly walked over and kneeled in front of me. He lifted one of his hands and gently pressed it to my left leg. I knew he was trying to be gentle, but the pressure was enough to make me whimper.

"Ow…"

"Yeah, it's pretty damaged," he said, his voice sounding cute and nerdy, and he turned to his brothers. "She won't be able to walk for a while. Not without help."

All four turtles looked at each other, not saying anything. I was starting to feel a little nervous with all the silence going on. It was then that I noticed the rain had sobered down to a small sprinkle and was no longer pouring. The boy in red sighed.

"We're takin' her with us, aren't we?" he asked.

"We don't have a choice. We can't just leave her here," said Leo.

"Dudes, what's dad gonna think?" asked the boy in orange.

"I'll go and tell him about this, you guys get Lavinia out of here," Leo walked over to me. "I'm going to go ahead and tell our dad about you, and my brothers are going to help bring you to our lair. I'll see you there, okay?"

I nodded, trusting his words. He smiled before turning around and jumping down the manhole.

"Raph, come help me," said Donnie.

'Raph' made a gruff sound before walking over next to Don. They both got on either side of me and placed my arms around their shoulders- Donnie on my right, Raph on my left.

"We're gonna help you up, okay?" Donnie asked, and I nodded. "Okay. Raph, lift her up on my count. One…two…three."

In one swift movement they both lifted me off the ground. My leg slid on the concrete and hurt for a second before I stood on my right foot, still supported by both Raph and Donnie.

"Yah okay, short stuff?" Raph asked, sounding less gruff than before.

I nodded. They then slowly started leading me over to the manhole, still holding me while I hopped on one leg.

"Mikey, get down there so you can help get Levina down," said Donnie.

'Mikey' nodded and jumped down the manhole. I leaned over slightly and saw he was holding onto the ladder, only halfway down. The boys helped set me down on the ground gently so I could slide in through the hole. I held onto the ladder and used my right foot to step down slowly until I was right above Mikey. I looked down at him, and he smiled as he reached up for me.

"C'mon, little dudette! I gotcha!"

I smiled down at him. I eased my way down a little so I was close enough to reach him. He wrapped and arm around me and I held onto him tightly. Suddenly he let go of the ladder and jumped down to the sewer floor. I yelped when this happened, but calmed down when we hit the ground safely.

"Chill, dudette. I won't let yah get hurt."

I grinned. "Thanks…Mikey, right?"

"Heck yeah!" He brought my left arm over his shoulder and raised his head. "C'mon, dudes! Let's go!"

Both Raph and Donnie then hopped down next to us. Don came up and put my right arm over his shoulders and they started to led me through the sewers, Raph leading the way.

* * *

I stared in amazement. The place was _huge_! That was the only way I could describe it. It appeared to be some sort of rundown subway station or something. But before I could look around more my eyes found Leo standing in the middle of the room. There was a tall figure standing next to him. The person appeared to have what looked like dark brown fur and large ears, and was wearing some kind of robe. When Leo saw us he reached up and tugged on the figures' sleeve.

"Dad, she's here."

The person turned, and I gave a silent gasped. It was a giant, two-legged rat. _This is there dad? But, he's a rat… _The rat stared at me for a moment, eyes wide. He stood in silence for what seemed like forever before he finally spoke.

"My sons, bring her to the couch. Now."

I hopped on my right leg as Donnie and Mikey quickly brought be over to the large couch. Once there, they slowly and gently set me down on the soft cushions. I nearly sighed at how comfy they were. Daddy's recliner was nothing compared to this! The giant rat walked up in front of a couch and kneeled in front of me. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling a bit nervous.

"Do not fear, little one," he said, his voice was exceedingly gentle. "I assure you, neither me or my sons intend on harming you. Leonardo tells me your name is Lavinia, is that right?"

I nodded. "Y-yes."

"Lavinia- a lovely name for a lovely girl," he smiled. "My name is Splinter. I promise you, child, you're in safe hands."

I looked at him, and nodded. Splinter looked down and, slowly and gently, grabbed my foot and lifted it up. He ran one of his hands(paws?) across my calf, examining it closely. At one point he gave it a gentle squeeze, and I winced.

"Hmm… It's not completely broken, but her bone has been pulled out of place," he turned his head. "Leonardo, I need you to get the first aid kit. Raphael, get an icepack."

Both nodded, and left to retrieve the items. Splinter looked at Donnie and Mikey, and nodded at them.

"You two, come."

Mikey and Donnie came over and stood on either side of Splinter.

"Donatello, I need you to brace Lavinia's leg. Here, like this…" Splinter helped Donnie position his hands on my leg, holding it so that it was braced against the table in front of the couch. "Michelangelo, sit next to her, please."

Mikey nodded before walking over to the couch and sitting next to me.

"Lavinia, listen closely," Splinter said softly. "You're going to have to stay perfectly still for a moment, okay? I'm going to have to pop your leg back into place. It'll hurt for a moment, but don't worry. My son, Michelangelo, is going to hold your hand and never let go. Alright?"

I nodded, but I felt my lip trembling. For some reason, his words scared me only a little. Why did fixing my leg have to hurt? I mean, the whole point of fixing it was so that it wouldn't hurt anymore, right? But before I could say anything I felt something grab my hand. I looked down to see it was Mikey. I looked up at him and saw that he had a small, encouraging smile on his face.

"Mikey, I'm scared," I admitted. "I don't like pain…"

"Me neither," he said, then added a little cheerfully. "But don't worry, dudette! You'll be better in no time! Besides, dad says I won't let go, and I won't."

Mikey smiled brightly at me, and I smiled slightly at him, unable to resist. A few seconds later both Leo and Raph came back- Leo holding a large, black bag, Raph holding a blue icepack. Splinter looked at them before looking back at me.

"Alright…" he grabbed my leg with both of his hands. "Ready? One… two… three!"

_Pop!_

_"Ow!"_

I cried out, squeezing Mikey's hand with all my might. He made an uncomfortable noise, but he didn't let go of my hand, and squeezed it back. My leg began to throb immensely, and I felt a tear fall from my eye.

"It's alright, little one," Splinter said gently, patting my knee. "The worse is over now. Everything is fine."

I took several long breaths, trying to calm down. I glanced down at Mikey's hand, and saw I was still holding it very tightly. I quickly released my grip, but Mikey continued to hold on.

"S-sorry, Mikey. Did I hurt you?" I asked.

Mikey shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine, Nia."

I blinked. "What?"

"Oh, I called you Nia," he told me. "It's short for Lavinia. I kinda like using nicknames for people, and I like naming things, too," he looked at me closely. "Is it… is it cool that I call you that?"

I stared at him. He was asking my permission? I had never had a nickname before. Daddy barley used my full name, usually calling me mean names instead. I smiled at him, and nodded.

"Sure, Mikey."

"Awesome!"

I giggled. Meanwhile, Splinter took the black bag from Leo and opened it up, reaching inside for a moment. He took out a roll of white bandages and some tape and set them down on the floor. Raph then handed him the ice pack. Splinter gently picked up my leg and helped me turn so I could lay across the couch.

"You're very lucky it was only pulled out of place," said Splinter as he placed the pack on my swelling leg, causing me to sigh with relief. "All you need now is to bind it and give it rest."

I nodded, understanding what he was saying. The icepack was kept on my leg for a good few minutes until the swelling finally went down. When it did, Splinter set down the pack and picked up the bandages, unrolling a large amount.

"Donatello, I need you to lift her leg up, please."

Donnie quickly walked over to the other end of the couch where my legs were and lifted my leg up gently. Splinter leaned in close and began wrapping the bandages around my leg.

"My son, Leo, has told me of how he came to find you, and claims to have been told how you got hurt," he looked down at me, looking into my eyes. "Child…is it true? …Did your father really do this to you?"

I gulped, suddenly very nervous. If daddy found out I told anyone that he had hurt me before, he'd hurt me again. I didn't want that. But I felt so safe here that I couldn't help myself.

"D-daddy came home late," I started lowly. "He told me to leave so he could watch his TV. But…the TV was broken. I didn't do it, but he thought I did it. And he…he did awful things. He hurt my leg…"

Splinter didn't reply. He continued to wrap the bandage around my leg until he cut it from the roll with a pair of tiny scissors. He took out some tape and tied it around the bandage to keep it in place. He picked the icepack back up and put it back on my leg like before.

"Is that all? Nothing else?"

"N-no…" I lowered my head and fiddled with my fingers. "I didn't brake the TV, but I think I did something to make him mad. That's why he hurt me, right? Why would he hurt me if I didn't do anything wrong?"

I looked up at Splinter, who didn't say anything. He sat there, staring at me with a weird look.

"Dad?" Leo asked, but received no reply.

Splinter sat there for what felt like several minutes, kneeling in front of me, his hands now on his knees. After what felt like ages, he sighed, and his voice was filled with sorrow.

"You poor child…"

I stared at him, brows furrowed. Was he talking about me? Why was he now upset? Before I could ask him anything he turned to look at the boys.

"My sons, go find a spare blanket and pillow for Lavinia. She will be needing it."

"I'll get them!" Mikey jeered before running off.

"Donatello, go fetch a bowl of water and a rag. Lavinia needs to be cleaned."

"Okay," Donnie replied, and he left, too.

Splinter turned his head back to me. "Lavinia, you are going to be staying here with us for the night," he raised his hand and pushed the hair away from my face. "Maybe a little longer than that. Will that be alright with you?"

I nodded without hesitation. I didn't see any problem with staying here. This place seemed safe enough and looked nice. Plus all the boys seemed to like me, even Raph. So, I didn't see any problem with spending a night or two here.

Donnie came back with a large bowl filled with water and a small rag on his arm. He kneeled down and set the bowl down by Splinter, who thanked him. Splinter took the rag from Donnie and stuck it in the water, making sure not to make a mess. He brought the cloth back up and rug the excess water out. _Why is he doing this? Why for me…? _I suddenly felt a little embarrassed and lowered my head as much as it could go, not wanting anyone to see my face.

"Lavinia, please look up."

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly lifted my head. For some reason I expected to see an irritated look on Splinter's face. What I saw instead was a face that was full of gentleness and kindness.

Splinter lifted my chin up a little more before bringing the wet rag up to my face and began wiping the dirty off of it. He scrubbed my forehead first, rubbing it gently across my head. The water was warm, and it gave a nice feeling to my previously numb skin. Once Splinter was done with my forehead he brought the rag back, and it was coated in a small layer of black dirt. He put it back in the bowl of water, rug it out like last time, and brought it up to clean my cheeks.

Within the next few minutes my face was completely cleaned of whatever grime was left on me from the filthy ally. My face was clean and it felt warm from the heat of the water, which now had small clumps of dirt floating around in it. Leo took the bowl and the rag and took them away. Splinter had taken a larger, dry towel and used it to dry off my face and the rest of my body, which was still damp from the rain outside. After a few minutes, Splinter wrapped the towel around my shoulders before finally getting to his feet.

"It is late, my sons" he breathed. "Time for sleep. Off to bed now."

All four hesitated for a moment, giving me a strange look, but eventually nodded. They all bowed and said "Goodnight, Sensei," in unison. But even as they started to head upstairs, they all called out "goodnight" to me, they even waved at me. Though, Raph nodded instead of waving, but he still told me "goodnight," too. Mikey had just taken his first step up the stairs when he paused. He turned around, and he had a huge, adorable smile on his face. Before me or Splinter could ask he had jumped off of the step and started sprinting back over. For a split second I thought he was going to attack me, so I curled up into my towel. The next thing I knew Mikey had wrapped his large arms around me and was squeezing me gently to his chest.

It was as if some sort of explosion had just happened. Something inside me seemed to have snapped, rupturing everything and letting it all fall out of place. But what was more shocking was what I was now feeling. Warmth, mostly, and a bit of safety. But most of all was a very warm, light feeling that I couldn't name, but still, somehow, liked. This had never happened before- not to me. And I still couldn't believe it. Mikey was… was…

_Hugging me…_

"Goodnight, Nia!" Mikey said cheerfully. "See yah tomorrow!"

And without another word, he gave my another big smile before turning on his heel and sprinting over to and up the stairs. My eyes never left him as I watched him go to the upper level and into a door that could only lead to his room. I was frozen, still shocked by what had just happened. From beside me, I heard Splinter chuckle.

"Forgive him, Lavinia," he told me. "Michelangelo can be a bit overexcited sometimes. He has a very kind heart, but sometimes he just doesn't understand the meaning of personal space."

He turned to face me, but his grin faded when he looked at me. The confusion I was feeling was probably showing on my face.

"What is it, Lavinia?" he asked me. "Is it wrong that my son wants to be friendly?"

"Oh, no," I said quickly, but quietly. "It's just… that's never happened before."

"What? No one has ever been friendly towards you?"

"It's…not just that."

"Then what is it, child?"

I gulped, not sure how to say my next sentence. I sighed, then lowered my head slightly.

"I've…I've never been hugged before…"

Splinter inhaled sharply, and the noise made me look up quickly. Splinter had a shocked look on his face, his eyes wide with surprise. I looked at him, confused. Was it that unusual that I've never had a hug? I mean, it was the truth. I've never had a hug in my life. Daddy never gave me any hugs. And if he did, I couldn't remember any of them.

Splinter walked over to were Mikey had left the blanket and pillow. He picked the two objects up and walked over to the end of the couch were my head was. He laid the pillow on the end and patted it. Having a feeling of what he meant, I slowly laid down on my back until my head hit the pillow and looked up at Splinter.

"Well, I am sure Michelangelo would be honored to know that he was your first hug," he said gently. "You can tell him tomorrow, if you like."

Splinter unfolded the large blanket above me, and I stared in amazement at how big it was. _That blanket is for me? But, it's huge!_ Splinter brought the blanket over me so that it fell gently onto my small frame. The second it made contact I was enveloped with the soft heat it was giving me. This blanket was wonderful, nothing like the blanket back at daddy's. I grabbed onto the blanket and curled up in it the best that I could without hurting my leg, sighing with comfort. A large hand landed on my head and began rubbing it.

"Sleep now, child," Splinter said gently. "You've had a very long night. You must rest now."

Without hesitation, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, Splinter's hand still rubbing my head.

* * *

**So, that's it so far. Tell me what you think. I hope you like it. So, if you did or didn't, scroll down and tickle that little review button, and tell me what you think of this new story. And, if you have any personal interest in helping me, PM me and send me an idea, and i'll let you know if i like it. So, see yah!**


	2. Getting Used to It

**I...have no words. This took a little longer than expected to write, I'll say that. Not much else though. Nope. So...time for reading.**

* * *

Prologue: Part 2  
Getting Used to It…

It felt like it was only a second before I woke up again, but I didn't open my eyes. _It was just a dream, _I told myself. _I didn't meet four turtles and a rat. When I open my eyes, I'll be in my room again. _Knowing I would regret it, I opened my eyes, expecting to see my usual small, dark bedroom. What I saw instead was a small, old TV sitting a few feet away, and a table that had a few comics laying on it. I blinked a few times as I shifted my arms, and I felt a soft, heavy blanket that was covering my frame. I slowly and carefully tried to sit up without moving my leg. I pushed the blanket off and cool air hit me like an electric shock. I shivered slightly.

"Good morning."

I gasped and whipped my head around. Splinter was standing there, arms folded behind him. I blinked several times before I felt myself smile. _It wasn't a dream!_

"I see you are awake, Lavinia," Splinter said as he walked over towards me. "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded. "Yes, very well."

Suddenly there was a yell.

"I think I got it, Sensei!"

It was Mikey. I craned my neck to see what looked like a room far away that was covered by a curtain.

"Um, what's Mikey doing?" I asked.

"He insisted on making breakfast this morning," Splinter turned his head slightly. "Be careful with the stove, Michelangelo."

"I will!" Mikey called back.

Splinter turned back to me. "How are you feeling, Lavinia?"

"Much better," I admitted. "That was the best sleep I've ever had."

"I'm happy to hear that. How's your leg?"

I looked down at my bandaged left leg. I tried lifting it and pain shot through it. I winced, grabbing my leg tightly.

"Still hurts…"

"I thought so. It'll be a while before you are able to walk on your own again. Which is why I have this."

I glanced up and saw Splinter was now holding a wooden crutch. He walked over to the couch and kneeled in front of me, holding his hand out to me.

"Come, child. There's no better time to start getting stronger than right now."

Knowing he was right, I nodded. It took me a moment to get both of my legs over the couch without hurting my bad leg. Splinter handed me the crutch and helped place it under my left arm. Taking hold of my hand, he slowly helped me up.

"I think I can go by myself," I told him.

It wasn't like I didn't appreciate his help, I just didn't want to be more of a burden on Splinter. I mean, I probably already was now, and I wanted to cause as little trouble as possible. I tried to take a step forward on my own, but my 'good' leg wobbled horribly and I started to fall. Splinter quickly caught me in his arms and gently helped me back up.

"S-sorry," I stuttered.

"Healing takes time, child," Splinter said calmly. "You will need some help moving around until your leg is healed."

I hung my head, feeling my face start to flush. "I just… don't wanna be any trouble…"

I felt something large and warm touch the back of my head and I knew it was Splinter. I looked up at him and saw he had a kind smile on his face.

"You are not a burden in any way, Lavinia," he lifted his other hand and offered it to me. "And there is no shame in accepting help when it is needed. And I can tell you've needed help for a long time."

I had a feeling he meant something more when he said that, but I chose not to question it. I looked down at his hand for a moment, then looked back up at him. He had a kind, encouraging smile on his face. Those were 2 expressions that I had never been given before now, and I wasn't sure what to do about it. But even so, I felt myself nod as I grasped Splinter's hand.

Splinter lead me into the room where the kitchen was. I could see Mikey moving around by the stove, and I could hear something sizzling in the pain in front of him. _Smells like butter. _Splinter had already helped me into one of the stool chairs before Mikey turned to look at me.

"Hey, Nia!" he said happily.

"Morning, Mikey," I said quietly. "What're you doing?"

"Making breakfast! He stated boldly. "Master Splinter says it's okay for me to use the stove by myself now! I've been practicing for months, and now I can make breakfast by myself," he clapped his hands together. "So, what do you want?"

I blinked. "Wh-what?"

"Yeah, what do you wanna eat? You name it, and I'll make it."

"Don't be over confident in the kitchen, my son," warned Splinter, who was grabbing a jug of orange juice from the fridge. "It could cloud your judgment, and you could get burned."

"Yes, Sensei," said Mikey, then whispered to me, "Seriously though, whatcha want? I can already make a lot of things, just name one."

I bit down on my bottom lip, fiddling with my fingers. I wasn't really sure what to ask for. Daddy almost never let me have breakfast, usually waking me up so I could immediately go do some chores. No matter if it was washing the dishes or doing the laundry, I usually didn't get a chance to eat until lunch. Sometimes I'd even wake up earlier so that I could eat something before he woke up.

"I don't really eat breakfast," I said finally. "I'm not sure what to choose…"

"Say no more!"

At once Mikey stood away from me and started running around the table excitedly. He circled the table about three times before skidding to a halt in front of the refrigerator. As he swung the door open and started rummaging through it, I turned my gaze to Splinter. By now he had poured five glasses of orange juice and was now filling a sixth. After filling the last one he picked the glass up in his hand and walked over to the table. He then se the medium sized cup down in front of me. I blinked, surprised at what I had been given. _Daddy never gave me juice… _I looked up at Splinter and he was smiling at me.

"Thank you."

He nodded. "You're welcome."

I looked down at my cup for a moment before slowly reaching out and grabbing it. I brought it close to me and gazed down at the orange liquid inside. After a few seconds I brought the cup up to my lips and took a small sip- a sip that soon turned into a big gulp when I realized how delicious the juice actually was. I can't remember ever having any juice in my life, and this was amazing.

After what felt like a few second I finally lowered the glass from my mouth, licking my lips to get any that might've been left. A small smile grew on my face as I turned my gaze to look at Mikey, who was busying himself over the stove. I watched as he took four eggs I his hands and broke them over the pan, the yellow yokes plopped onto the black surface, and the sizzling increased.

"Now, how should I make these eggs…?" then he snapped his fingers. "Duh! Scrambled!"

At once Mikey reached into an open drawer and took out a large spatula. He kissed the instrument before using it to chop and stir the eggs. Then…he started humming. It wasn't any particular song I had ever heard of, more like a random cluster of notes. But he continued to hum as he went to work with breakfast. He grabbed a near by bottle of pepper, plopped the lid off with his thumb, and started sprinkling it onto the eggs. Leaving the eggs to cook for a moment, he walked over to the counter were a loaf of bread and a small toaster sat. Mikey grabbed several slices and popped them into the toaster. Then he grabbed a nearby bag that said "Bacon" on it. He took out several slices of the meat and dropped them into a second smaller pan that was on the stove.

"No way! Mikey's making breakfast!"

I whipped my head around and saw Leo, Raph, and Donnie had all entered the kitchen. As soon as I looked at them they all looked back at me, and I was happy to see them all smile at me. Even Raph did(though his was smaller that Leo's and Donnie's).

"Good Morning, Nia," said Donnie as he took a seat next to me.

"Morning," I replied, then paused. "Wait, did you just call me 'Nia?'"

"Mikey said that's what we can call you," said Raph as he took the seat across from Donnie. "He said he called yah that last night and yah liked it. Is it cool that we call yah that?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, nodding. "I don't mind. I…I like 'Nia,' anyway."

"Told you guys I'm good with naming stuff!" Mikey called as he flipped the bacon strips over. "You should let me do it more often."

Leo finally came up to the talbe. He looked at all the remaining places before taking a seat across from me. He placed his hands on the table as he looked over at me.

"So, how's your leg?" he asked.

I glanced down at my bandaged leg. "Still hurts," I told him. "But Splinter said that it would be fine after a while."

"Will you be able to walk soon?" asked Donnie?"

"She will be fine, my sons," said Splinter, who was sitting in a chair at the end of the table. "Lavinia needs time to heal, but she will walk again. She may need some help moving around for some time, though."

"I don't mind helping her," piped up Donnie.

"Me neither," said Leo.

I blushed slightly when the guys acted so egger to help me. It was so sweet of them. I looked over at Raph, who seemed to be looking down in his lap. He glanced up at me and blinked when he saw me staring. He gulped, and gave a small nod.

"I can help, too."

"So can I!"

I turned just in time to see Mikey drop a big bowl full of scrambled eggs in the middle of the table. A second later there was a plate of bacon and a plate full of toast with jam.

"Dig in!" Mikey shouted, hopping into the empty seat next to me.

"Impressive, Michelangelo," said Splinter. "Considering this is your first time making breakfast by yourself, this looks very good."

"Thanks, Sensei."

I stared, awestruck and jaw open at the sight laid out before me. I had never been presented with this much yummy-looking stuff in all my life. Daddy hardly gave me any breakfast ever, so of course, this was all so surprising to me.

"What is the matter, Lavinia?" I heard Splinter ask. "Are you not hungry?"

I blinked and glanced up at the table. By now all of the others had filled their plates with eggs and were now going for the bacon. Even Splinter had some toast on his plate.

"Yes," I said quietly. "But…I don't know what to take…"

"You can take a bit of each thing, if you want," said Leo.

"I can?"

"Totally!" Mikey reached over and grabbed the bowl of scrambled eggs, bringing it over towards me. "C'mon, Nia! Have some eggs!"

I gazed at the bowl full of egg, then looked up at Mikey's face. He had an excited, but patient look on his green, freckled face, and as I looked around I saw that the others had the same waiting look. I looked over at Splinter last, and I waited for some kind of response to what was happening. He smiled at me, and nodded, gesturing to the bowl Mikey was offering.

"Please, have some breakfast, Lavinia," he said. "You must be very hungry."

I turned back to Mikey, who was still pushing the bowl, little by little, towards me. I stared off, thinking about all that had happened in the pass couple of hours. These people had brought me into their home, taken care of my injuries, let me sleep on their couch, and they were now allowing me to eat their food. How can these people have so much kindness in them? Why was I being treated so nicely when I had been treated so poorly all my life? Why me?

But instead of asking these questions, I reached forward for the large bowl. As I grabbed a spoonful of egg, I felt a smile grow on my face.

"I'm starving," I admitted.

* * *

(3 days after arrival)

Mikey's P.O.V.

This is the coolest thing ever! Nia's been down here with us for three days now, and it is awesome! It's so cool having someone new around here. Don't get me wrong, I love my bros and my Sensei, but everything was started to get a bit…dull. And dull is not cool! But now we got this awesome girl staying with us, and what's more, she's not afraid or freaked out about us at all! She treats us like we're completely normal! It's totally awesome! What's even more awesome is that she's a super cool sweetheart. No, seriously, she's like, the nicest person you could ever meet. She hasn't complained, had any issues, caused any problems, and me and the guys all like her already. She's still a little shy around us, but that'll ware off after a while.

I was in the living room playing with a small toy truck I found in the sewers a while back. It was small, small enough to fit in my hand, and it was dark blue. I was just rolling it around the floor when I noticed Nia sitting quietly on the couch. She was just sitting there, staring off into space. She was like, zoned out and stuff. She didn't look uncomfortable or anything, but I could tell she was bored. I mean, how could she not be? She's basically stuck on the couch until she can walk again, and that won't be for another week or so, at least.

I glanced down at the truck in my hands, then back at Nia's still form. Then a smile grew on my face. _Idea!_ I turned unto my stomach and started to army crawl towards the couch. I placed my truck on the ground and rolled it around as I crawled on the floor, making loud driving noises. As I got closer and closer to the couch Nia slowly turned her head to look at me. She smiled and giggled when she saw me.

"Hi, Mikey. What're you doing?"

"Fun stuff," I told her as I crouch next to the couch. "Watch…"

She turned a little more and waited for me to do something. I smiled as I brought my truck back up to the edge of the couch, directly next to Nia's shoulder.

"Ahh! It's a giant girl!" I squealed, making my voice high pitched, and I shook the car a little. "Where did she come from? What will she do to us?"

I glanced up at Nia, hoping she would catch on. She stared at blinked at me a few times, then her mouth fell open slightly as she gave a small "Oh…." She smiled and raised her hands up in the air above my truck.

"Grr! I'm a mean, old giant!"

"Oh no, someone save us!" I squeaked again. "Please, don't let the giant eat us!"

Nia paused. Then she waved her arms around a little and reached for the truck, making more growling noises. I squealed and wailed as I pretended to be the poor guy that was going to get eaten. After a bit of swaying, Nia reached down and grabbed the car. I let go of it and placed my hands on my head.

"Oh, no! She's got us! She's gonna eat us!"

Nia lifted the truck up to her face and pretended to take a bite out of it.

"NO! She's eating us…!" I rolled onto my back and threw my arms in the air. "We're doomed! Doomed…!"

Nia finally stopped role-playing to lean her head back and laugh. I smiled at her as I rolled onto my stomach.

"Ah-ha! I knew you knew how to play!"

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked. "I got to play a little at home. I just never had anyone to play with."

I folded my arms on the ground and rested my chin in them. "Well, you do now."

Nia blinked, smiling widely. Then she looked down at the blue truck in her hands and examined it closely.

"Cool truck," she said. "Where'd you get it?"

"Found it in the sewers a while ago," I told her. "It was super cool and Sensei let me keep it. There was another one next to it, but it was broken. I couldn't keep it. I wish I did, though. I'd love to have another car."

"Maybe you'll find one someday."

"Yeah, maybe."

We sat still for a few moments. Things were very quiet with not playing going on or anything. It was weird, and I didn't like it too much. Nia must've been thinking the same thing because she nudged me to get my attention.

"C'mon, you be the giant this time."

I beamed at her. This was going to be fun! I knew having her here would be awesome.

* * *

(1 week after arrival)

Donnie's P.O.V.

I had just walked out of my room, reading one of my books. I had basically been locked in my room all day with nothing else to do. I was planning on just reading in there, but Sensei said that I couldn't stay locked in my room forever. So I had taken my book with me when I walked out.

I heard and excited squeak and I looked up from my book. From here I could see Mikey sitting next to Nia on the couch. They appeared to be watching another one of Mikey's cartoons. Even from this distance I could see him clutching onto Nia's arm, shaking her slightly.

"Ooh! I love this part!" he squealed.

I heard Nia giggle, and I rolled my eyes as I looked back down into my book. Though I wasn't looking, my feet were guiding me towards the kitchen. Maybe I could read peacefully in there. I mean, Sensei only said I had to stay out of my room, he didn't say anything about not going somewhere else.

"Hi, Donnie."

I froze and whipped my head around. It wasn't Mikey who had spoken my name. It was Nia. She had turned around and was looking at me, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, hi Nia."

"Hey, bro!" Mikey called when he relized I was there. "We're watching cartoons, come watch with us."

I gave a small shrug. _Eh, why not? _I walked over and sat down next to Nia. For a few seconds, I looked at the silly cartoon the other two were watching before sighing and looking back down into my book. _So much for reading in peace._

"What're you reading?"

I blinked and whipped my head around to stare at Nia. She flinched slightly at my fast movement. Was she actually more interested in what I was reading than what Mikey was watching? He was practically gazing at it with drool coming down his chin. And yet, she had completely turned away from the screen to look at me. I glanced down at my book, then turned to completely face her.

"It's just a book I found in the sewers a few weeks ago," I told her.

I closed the book and held it up to show her the blue cover with yellow polka-dots all over it. The title was labeled "Tales of Dinosaurs." It was a small children's book filled with different descriptions of dinosaurs and their lifestyle. Nia eyed the book with what looked like a curious gaze.

"You like dinosaurs?" she asked.

"Yeah, kinda," I admitted. "A while back I started watching this science channel, and everything on there is so cool! They showed a couple episodes on dinosaurs, and they were awesome! And I wanna know as much as I can."

I smiled slightly as Nia gave a small nod. She didn't seem to be as fascinated with this as I was, but she seemed genuinely interested, all the same. She was definitely more interested than my brothers, that's for sure.

"Well, what's in the book?" she asked, sounding even more curious.

"Loads of stuff!" I leaned in a little as I opened the book so I could show her where I was reading. "There's all kinds of stories about dinosaurs. What kinds there where, how they lived, what they ate, and how they disappeared! Look! That's my favorite one!"

I pointed down at the picture in the middle of the book. It was a painted image of a huge dinosaur, with a huge body and an extremely long neck.

"It's a Diplodocus," I explained. "A longneck dinosaur, and it's the longest one ever. It eats stuff like bushes, tree leaves, and-"

"Donnie, I'm watching TV!" Mikey whined.

I frowned at him before looking back up at Nia. "Yeah…it's a really cool book. The others don't really like this stuff, but…I do…"

Suddenly feeling nervous, I lowered my head down. My face started feeling really warm, I must be blushing. _Geez, why did I have to do all that? She probably thinks I'm a big nerd now, just like the others…_

"Well, I think it's cool, too."

I must've blinked several hundred times before I snapped my head up. "You do?"

Nia smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

I felt nothing but complete shock in that moment, but that was instantly replaced with joy, and I could tell that it showed on my face. Nia's smile seemed to widen as happiness filled me up. None of my brothers were ever interested in the same stuff I was, they just thought I was being a boring nerd. Sensei liked listening to me ramble about the stuff in my books, but he did have the same fascination I had with them. Now, this girl who I've only known for a week tells me she likes some of the stuff I do. I mean, it's only one of the many things I like, but it was enough for me!

"Um, Donnie?" Nia spoke up a little quietly.

"Yeah?"

She bit her bottom lip. "Can… Can you read it to me? Please…?"

If it was possible I felt my smile widen even more. I nodded quickly, and Nia smiled, too. I scooted over to her a little more as she rested her arm on the back of the couch. I flipped the small book to the front, cleared my throat a little, and began to read.

I ended up reading the whole book to Nia, and Mikey didn't interrupt us even once.

* * *

**Aww! Super cute, right? Now, don't worry. The next chapter is gonna have some bonding stuff with Raph, Leo and Splinter in it, so do not fret. Also, at this point it looks like there's going to be two more chapters of this prequel stuff before i actually get to the season 1 stuff. I hope that's not a problem.**

**Welp! I got stories to write! Chow, yall! :)**


	3. Just Some Training

**Hey peeps! Waddup? So...Listen. I've been doing some serious thinking on this story and future stories for the other seasons. And... Um, how do i put this?**

**I'm changing the title.**

**Yep, you heard me. I've already got the titles for the first three seasons written out. Here they are:**

**Prologue**** and Season 1(this story): It's now known as "The Interesting Life of Lavinia."  
Season 2: _That one_ will be known as "The Secret Life of Lavinia." (Reason? _That's _the story where secrets will be revealed)  
Season 3: Will be known as "The Complicated Life of Lavinia." (Reason? ...Well, you've seen the episodes so far. Things are gonna get complicated.)**

**So, there yah have it. Sorry for not doing all of this earlier. Things like this always happen after i post something, and i HATE it so much! Don't you?**

**...**

**What? That's never happened to you?**

***you shake your head***

**Oh. Well then... Ahem! Anywho! I've got the next chapter for yah, and I hope you like it. Read along.**

* * *

Prologue: Part 3  
Just Some Training

(2 weeks after arrival)

Raph's P.O.V.

It's been two weeks since we brought Nia to the lair. We all pretty much got along with her, and she was real sweet to us. Shy as heck, but sweet. Here leg had gotten better, too. By the end of the first week she was able to walk with a crutch on her own. I was hoping that she would be able to walk on her own by the end of this week, but she was still using a crutch. I asked Splinter about it and he just told me that she needed a little more time to heal. I wanted her to get better, but she was taking so long. Maybe she just needs a little push to help her.

And that night, I found out that I was right.

I was just laying in my bed trying to fall asleep when I heard it. It sounded like somebody falling and then making painful noises. I knew that none of my brothers or my Sensei would be up at this time, so I figured it must've been Nia. Maybe she fell on her way to the bathroom or something. I wanted to make sure she was okay, so I got up and walked out of my room to see what was wrong. I barley made it out of the hallway when I saw her. She was lying on the ground on her stomach, her crutch laying next to her.

"Nia?"

Nia whipped her head around to look at me, shock written all over her face.

"Raph! I- I can explain-"

She quickly grabbed her crutch and tried to push herself up to her feet, but she ended up falling back down. Not wasting anytime, I ran up to her and grabbed her by her arms, gently helping her up to her feet. She quickly put the crutch under her arm and leaned on it.

"Thanks…" she muttered.

"No problem," I said lowly. "You're lucky I was still awake. What're yah doin' out here anyway?"

Nia's face turned pink as she lowered her head down. Something was bugging her, and I needed to know. I frowned at her as I folded my arms.

"I ain't leavin' 'till you start talkin', so spill it."

Nia glanced up at me, her dark brown eyes wide with fear. She closed them and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"I…I've been trying to walk…"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"I've been trying to walk, okay?" she repeated. "I've been trying to walk by myself for a few days now, trying to get better. But…I didn't wanna do it in front of you guys. I didn't want you seeing how clumsy I am. So… I've been practicing at night so you guys wouldn't have to see me."

I stared at her, hardly able to believe it. I was so shocked my arms unfolded without me realizing it. It all made sense now. Why she went to sleep earlier than us, why she seemed exhausted in the morning, and why she had started getting better little by little. But whatever she was doing for practice, it wasn't working fully. Seeing her fall down just now proved that.

"Yah planning on practicing if I leave?" I asked her.

"I plan on practicing even if you don't leave," she said a little boldly.

I blinked, slightly surprised by her tone. It was probably the most forceful she's ever been so far. It wasn't much, but it was enough to notice. Nia seemed to have noticed as well, because she blushed again and looked away. I sighed.

"Let me help."

Nia looked at me, tilting her head slightly. "What?"

"Let me help," I repeated. "Yah can't keep doing this by yourself. Besides… I wanna help yah."

Nia blushed even more, her face now going red. "Please, you don't have to…"

"But I _want _to," I told her, and when she opened her mouth to protest, I continued, "Look, I know what I'm doing. I twisted my ankle a while back, and Sensei helped me walk again. I'll just do what he did and you'll be fine. Okay?"

Nia bit down on her bottom lip as she glanced down at the floor. She was clearly thinking it over. I appreciated her not wanting to be a burden on me, but, she didn't need to. _Seriously, just accept help when it's given already. Yah ain't gotta be so sweet all the time._ It was only about a few moments more before she looked up at me and finally nodded.

"Okay…if you're sure."

I nodded. _Okay, now what did Sensei do first…? Hmm…Oh yeah! _I walked over to Nia and held my hands out to her.

"Okay… take my hands."

Nia nodded, then reached out with her right hand to grasped mine, her left one still grasping onto the crutch. I shook my head.

"Your other one, too."

"What about the crutch?"

"Just drop it."

She blinked at me, clearly confused. But after a few moments she lifted her arm and the crutch clattered to the floor. Nia quickly grabbed onto my other hand as she wobbled on her right leg. She grasped my wrists tightly, and I held onto her to keep her balanced. Once she stopped wobbling and was able to stand still, we were ready to start. Remembering what Sensei did for me, I took a few steps back so that we were arms length apart.

"Alright… Now, slowly put your left foot on the ground."

Nia nodded. She slowly and gently lowered her foot until it was flat on the floor, but still not supporting any weight.

"Okay, now take a step forward with it."

Nia glanced up at me then back at the floor. She hesitated, then moved her left foot and took a step forward. As soon as her foot hit the ground again she let out a choked gasp. I knew from experience what she was feeling. Her leg might not hurt when she walked, but it was probably still very uncomfortable.

"Take another step. Slowly…"

I felt Nia grip my wrists a little tighter as she gave a small nod. In one second she lifted her right foot, leaving all of her weight on her left, and put it back on her right quickly. As she did this I took a small step back, keeping the same distance between us.

"Keep going," I encouraged her.

She nodded, and took another step with her left. This step was shakier than the last, but she managed to get to her right foot quick enough.

This went on for a few moments. She'd take a step forward, and I'd take one back. Nia was doing okay, but each step on her left foot got shakier and shakier. She had taken another step with her left foot when it happened. Nia gave a surprised gasp as she toppled down onto her knees, still gripping tightly onto my wrist and dragging me down a bit. Nia started shaking slightly and I thought I heard her sob.

"I t-told you…" she stuttered, sounding like she was crying. "I'm c-clumsy…"

"It's okay!" I said quickly, kneeling in front of her. "You're gonna fall a couple times, but that's okay. You ain't gotta be embarrassed, I don't care!"

Nia finally stopped shaking, but she was still sniffling loudly, her head hung low. I released one of my hands from hers and placed it on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. She slowly lifted her head up, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. She blinked, and a tear fell down her right cheek. I was frozen in shock. None of us had seen Nia cry even a bit since the day she came here, and that was only because she had a broken leg. Now she was crying just because she was embarrassed… But, she had no reason to be. The fact that she was even out here trying to get better gave her every reason to be proud of herself.

Unconsciously, I lifted my hand up from her shoulder and wiped the tear away. Her brows furrowed, and she looked a little confused.

"You ain't gotta be embarrassed," I said again, gripping her shoulder. "You're out here tryin' to walk, tryin' to get better, and that's good. I never expected you to do somethin' like this. The fact that you're out here proves that yah got guts, that yah tough. And… I think that's awesome."

She blinked, sniffing as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Y-you think?"

"Yeah! Being tough is really cool, don't yah think?"

She gave a small nod. "Yeah, I guess."

Nia gazed up at me, and a small, genuine smile appeared on her face. I stared at her for a moment, then I felt myself smile. This surprised even me. I usually didn't smile unless I got something that I wanted. So, what did I want this time? I wanted her to not be upset, that's for sure. But…did I really want to see her smile? Is that why I was smiling? Well, whatever reason it was…I didn't seem to mind at all.

"C'mon," I said, breaking the silence. "Let's try again."

Nia nodded. "Yeah… Okay."

* * *

(1 month after arrival)

Leo's P.O.V.

It's been one month since we brought Nia to our home. Things have been different since she came. Not in a bad way, but a really good way. Once she stopped being so nervous around us we saw that she was a very bright, very sweet girl. Turns out she was only shy around strangers, but much more open with people she was familiar with.

Before heading to the kitchen I went to find Nia sleeping on the couch, where she had been sleeping since she arrived. She was curled up into a little ball under the blanket, her head the only thing exposed as it lay down on the tiny pillow. I slowly walked over next to her and gently shook her shoulder.

"Nia… Wake up…"

After a few moments of nothing but feeble stirs and moans, Nia finally opened her eyes, exposing her small, dark brown orbs. She looked at me for a moment before she smiled.

"Hi, Leo…"

I smiled at her. "Time to get up, Nia. Don't you want breakfast?"

"Yes, please."

Nia uncurled herself and slowly sat up, letting the blanket fall off her shoulders. She reared her head back and let out a loud yawn as she stretched out her arms. I looked down at her, taking note of the new, light green nightgown she wore. Shortly after her arrival, Sensei had gone up to the surface one night and had managed to get a few sets of cloths from a donation building that had tons of free cloths for poor people. He didn't get a lot, just a few sets of cloths and the new set of pajamas she was now wearing, but Nia said it was more than enough for her. After glancing at her new gown I looked at the rest of her. When Nia first came here she had been very skinny, like she had not eaten in ages. Now that she had stayed with us for a while(and was left to the mercy of Mikey's cooking) she had grown a little more. Her collarbone and her elbows no longer poked out from underneath her skin, and her face had gotten slightly plumper. To sum it all up, she looked a lot healthier tan before. What was more, after the first three weeks she was finally able to walk by herself. She had abandoned her crutch and was walking around just fine. She still had a small limp, but Sensei said it would go away in time, and I was willing to wait.

"What's Mikey making?" Nia asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I think he said he's making omelets."

"Yay!" Nia jeered happily, then blushed and lowered her head. "I mean… sounds great."

I smiled and gave a small nod behind me, telling her to 'come on.' Nia stood up and followed me to the kitchen. When we got there we saw that Raph and Donnie were already in their seats, glasses of orange juice next to all of the chairs, and Mikey was at the stove and was receiving help from Sensei.

"Careful, Michelangelo," Sensei said warningly, but still calmly. "Ready… now."

Mikey gave a loud squeak as he jerked his pan up, causing the closed omelet to flip in the air. A second later the omelet landed back in the pan on the opposite side. Mikey, who had been closing his eyes due to excitement, peeked inside the pan, and when he saw the omelet was unharmed he squealed again.

"I did it! I did it!"

"Very good, my son," said Sensei. "Your cooking skills have become very impressive."

"Thanks, Sensei!"

I couldn't help but smile. Mikey seemed to be great in the kitchen, and he definitely loved getting compliments from Sensei about it. _At least his food tastes good. _I went to my usual spot on the table and sat in the chair next to Raph. Nia was about to sit in her chair next to Donnie when Mikey made another squeak.

"Nia!"

A second later Mikey had pounced onto Nia, latching his arms around her in a hug. To someone else this might've seemed unusual, but it had become a sort of routine for us. See, a week ago, me and Mikey were hanging out with Nia after our morning training, and she had asked Mikey why he had hugged her. He said he was just being friendly. Well, one thing led to another and Nia ended up admitting that the hug Mikey had given her was the first hug she had ever had. This shocked us both, but Mikey was the only one to act. When he found out he had wailed like a baby before running up and hugging her. Nia had been surprised, but eventually hugged him back. They had stayed there like that for a good few minutes before moving at all. But when Nia had tried to end the hug Mikey wouldn't let her go("All these years without hugs? And you think I'm gonna let you go now? Girl, you're crazy!"). we managed to get him off of her eventually, but I'd had a feeling he wasn't done. Sure enough, every morning since the incident, Mikey has been greeting Nia with one of his rib-crushing hugs that she seems to just love.

"Morning, Mikey," she said, smiling as Mikey hugged her.

"Morning!" he chirped as he let her go. "Got here just in time. I just made your omelet."

"Awesome."

Mikey ran back to the stove as Nia sat in her seat next to Donnie. We all sipped on our juice as we waited for our omelets. Within a few moments Sensei and Mikey had laid out all of our plates. They were simple ham and cheese omelets, but they were good, nonetheless. Things went on like they usually did; Mikey joked around with Nia, Raph stabbed at his omelet as he ate, and Donnie sat quietly while he ate his food. Halfway into our meal though, Nia had a question for Sensei.

"Um, Master Splinter?"

Nia had started using his name once she was more comfortable around us.

"Yes, Lavinia?"

"Uh… Is it, um, okay if I watch you guys train today?"

I coughed a little on my omelet and turned to look at her. Did Nia really want to watch us all train today? Did she really? I mean, she had known about Sensei training us to be ninjas for a while now, but she had never actually watched us yet. Whether or not she was shy or didn't want to at first, I didn't know, and she didn't tell. But now that she wanted to watch us I was starting to feel excited.

"Of course, Lavinia," said Sensei. "You never have to ask to watch us. I think it would be nice for my sons to have an audience. Assuming, of course, they do not have an issue with-"

"We don't mind!" I piped up quickly. "Right guys?"

"Not at all!" said Donnie.

"Heck yeah!" said Mikey.

"Sure," said Raph.

Okay, now I was really excited, and it seems like I'm not the only one. No one but Sensei had ever watched us train, and that was only so he could lecture us and teach us more. This was going to be awesome.

As soon as we were done eating Sensei told us all to go into the dojo. I wasted no time in putting up my plate and making my way to the dojo as fast as I could. I was in there and kneeling on the rug before Sensei even walked in. I sat there and drummed my fingers on my legs as all the others walked in. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all kneeled down next to me, waiting to begin our training. Sensei walked over to his usual spot by the tree, Nia following him closely. He placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling as he gave her a small nod. She grinned slightly as she sat on the ground by his feet, crossing her legs. Sensei smiled down at her before looking at us.

"Today you will be practicing the forms I showed you yesterday," he said. "You will focus on your form and the timing in your strikes. You will work separately, then you'll practice with one-on-one."

"Hai, Sensei," we all said in unison.

"Good. Now, get in position."

We all stood up, staying in our line as we held our arms at our sides.

"Hajime!"

And we started. For the next 10 minutes we redid our positions and forms over and over again. When I wasn't focusing on my form I would glance over at Nia, watcher reactions. She would always be starting at us, looking impressed and amazed at what we were doing. For some reason seeing that look on her face made me swell with pride.

"Yame!"

The second we heard this we all stopped what we were doing and stood still.

"Very good," said Splinter. "Now, pair up."

Today I paired up with Donnie while Raph paired up with Mikey. They stood by one end of the mat while we stood by the other. We all took a stance and waited.

"Hajime!"

I went at Donnie first. I raised my fist up to punch his face, and he ducks he head as he blocks it. I raised my other fist to punch his chest and he blocks it with his arm. He tried to aim a punch at my side, but I managed to block it. I raised my fist again to give him an uppercut, but I stop at the last second and use my other fist to go for his gut. I finally make contact and I hit him in his stomach. Donnie made a loud "oof" sound as he stumbled back a bit. Feeling curious I turned to look over at Nia. She was looking over at us, a look of amazement on her face. She saw me looking at her and she smiled at me, clapping her hands lightly. I beamed at her.

For the next 30 minutes me and my brotherss continued to practice our skills. We switched parteners a couple of times, and I fought with Raph and Mikey as well. By the time I was fighting with Raph(I got him last) training was almost over, and Nia was leaning over with her chin in her hands, gazing at us as we trained.

"Yame!"

We all stopped without hesitation. Raph looked angry, but lowered his fist instead of finishing his punch. We stood in our line as Sensei walked in front of us.

"You all did very well today," he said. "Your skills have improved, and they continue to improve each time you train. We will continued training another time."

"Hai, Sensei," we all said in unison.

He nodded. "You may go."

We all bowed respectively to our Sensei. But when he walked away, instead of walking out of the dojo, I walked over to Nia, who was just getting up from her spot.

"So, how'd you like it?" I asked her.

"It was amazing!" she exclaimed happily. "Really, I didn't know you guys could do stuff like that!"

"Thanks," I said. "But, it's not as much as you think. We've only been training since we were six. It's not always easy, but we're getting way better."

"I can tell. You looked awesome out there."

I blinked in surprise. My face started to heat up and I scratched the back of my neck nervously.

"G-gee, thanks," I stuttered, and I quickly cleared my throat. "I mean… Thanks, Nia. You know, I can't wait to learn everything about being a ninja."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Someday I wanna be a great ninja master, just like Sensei!"

Nia tilted her head to the side slightly, a small smile on her face. I rubbed my neck, feeling a little more nervous than before.

"I-I know… it sounds silly…"

"No, no, it's not!" she said quickly. "It's sounds really cool! I mean, you looked pretty awesome. If you keep practicing and working hard you could be a master someday!"

I blinked several times as I stared at Nia. I couldn't believe it. None of my brothers said things like that. They all either joked or just ignored me. Nia's words seemed too good to be true. But the look in her eyes and the smile on her face told me that she was telling the truth. She honestly thought that I was awesome with my training, and that if I worked hard enough I could be a master one day. That fact alone was enough to make me smile at her.

"Thanks Nia."

She smiled warmly at me, blinking her brown eyes at me. _Well, now that training's done we can hang out now. But, what should we do._

"So, um… You wanna watch 'Space Heroes'?"

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. As soon as I said them I regretted it. _Stupid! She doesn't wanna watch that! The guys all think it's stupid, especially Raph. She's gonna think it's stupid and make fun of you and-_

"What's 'Space Heroes'?"

"It's…. it's a new cartoon on TV. I started watching it a few weeks ago, and, erm… I think it's and awesome show, but you'll think it's stupid…"

"Well, I haven't seen it yet, so how would you know?" she asked.

She did have a point. I didn't even think about the fact that she probably hadn't even seen an episode of 'Space Heroes' yet. Maybe she wouldn't think it was stupid. Maybe she would like it. Maybe I could finally have someone to watch my show with. The thought made me feel a little hopeful.

"Well… do you want to?" I asked. "There's always a show on around now."

She smiled. "Sure, why not?"

I beamed at her once more, and by now it felt like my face was going to burst. She actually wanted to watch 'Space Heroes' with me. She really wanted to! I've finally found someone who'll watch my show. _This is gonna be awesome!_

* * *

(1 month and 2 weeks after arrival)

Splinter's P.O.V.

I was currently sitting quietly on the rug in my room, just finishing my nighttime meditation. Clearing your mind is always a good way to help you sleep; keeps you calm and at peace. Although, a nice cup of green tea does work some miracles; always very soothing. And it is that reason why I started making some tea right after my meditation. I had used the small heater and an old kettle to make some green tea. I might've put more water than necessary, but I suppose there was nothing wrong with having two cups of tea instead of only one.

I had just put the teabags into the water to sit, when I heard a strange noise. It sounded like…footsteps. But they were quieter, as though someone was sneaking around. But not quiet enough. I slowly walked away from my kettle towards the door of my room. As I did, the noise grew slightly louder. The person seemed to be taking a certain number of steps, pausing every few seconds, then stepping again. When I was right at my door, I pressed my ear to the surface, and listened.

"Come on! How did he do it? …Okay, maybe- No, it was like this… No…!"

Even with such hushed whispers, I recognized the voice. _Lavinia? _Now feeling curious, I grabbed the door and slowly, ever so slightly slid it open. I peeked my head out, and blinked. It was Lavinia. She was standing in the middle of the dojo, and…

I stared in surprise. She was mimicking the forms I had been teaching my sons all week. She was right there, in the same stance, making the same movements. But every time she tried, she'd always sulk and let out an irritated groan.

"Geez, how hard can it be? I've been watching them train for weeks, why is it so hard?"

I let out a soft chuckle. I couldn't help myself. _Such an adorable little girl. _No longer feeling the need to keep myself hidden, I decided to make my presence known, and I slid the door open more as I took a step out.

"Having trouble, Lavinia?"

Lavinia gasped and practically jumped into the air when I spoke. Again, I couldn't resist the chuckled that escaped me.

"I'm terribly sorry, child! I did not mean to frighten you."

"M-master Splinter!" Lavinia brushed herself off, regaining her balance again. "I-I… I'm sorry… I can explain… I-I didn't mean to…"

Lavinia continued to stutter on for a few more seconds, looking frantic. Finally, she just closed her eyes and hung her head in what appeared to be shame.

"I'm sorry… I now I shouldn't be in here. I'll…I'll go…"

Keeping her head down, she folded her arms, turned around, and started heading for the exist.

"You're footing was off."

Lavinia stopped walking at once, and her head shot up. She slowly turned to look at me, a confused look on her face.

"Huh…?"

"Your footing; it was slightly off," I folded my arms behind me as I walked towards her. "Here, I'll show you. Try the position again."

Lavinia blinked a few times, still looking confused. After a few seconds though, she nodded. She slowly spread her feet on the rug and got into a fighting stance. She glanced over at me, a nervous look on her face. I rubbed my chin as I walked over towards her.

"Mhm… I thought so," I muttered, then looked at her. "Your feet are off, but only slightly. Move your right foot ahead of you more, and move your left foot out to the side a little."

She nodded, quickly fixing her footing as I instructed. Once she did her stance looked much better, almost exactly how it was suppose to be.

"Try doing the form now."

She nodded. In one slow, but fluid movement, Lavinia did the form I had been teaching my sons for a week… and performed it perfectly. I blinked and stared in amazement as she finished the form with great accuracy. She turned her head to face me, a hopeful smile on her face. I smiled at her.

"Very good, Lavinia," I said. "I'm surprised at how well you performed that move."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Lavinia beamed at me, looking thrilled by what I had said. Seeing that look on her face, I couldn't help but smile down at her. She continued to smile at me until she realized she was staring at me. Her cheeks went pink and she lowered her head. I raised my brows.

"Is something wrong, Lavinia?"

Lavinia looked over at the wall, scratching her arm nervously. Even from this angle I could see her biting down on her bottom lip.

"I, um… I'm sorry if I woke you-"

But she was cut off as a loud whistle sounded from my room. I turned my head a little. The tea was finally ready. I glanced back over at Lavinia.

"Actually, I was just making some tea," I tilted my head slightly. "Would you care to join me?"

"Oh, uh… Yes, thank you."

I nodded. "Wait here."

I turned around and entered my room. I walked over to the kettle that was still whistling and took it off the small burner. The steam flowed out, and the calming aroma filled my nose. I then took out two round cups and set them both on a small tray. I slowly poured an even amount into each one before setting the kettle back down.

"Lavinia," I called gently.

"Coming."

As I waited for her to come in I walked over to one side of the ray and sat down. I looked up at the door just as Lavinia walked in. She stood in the doorway as she gazed around the room, her mouth slightly open. As her eyes finally fell on me I smiled at her, and gestured my hand in front of me.

"Please, sit."

She nodded, and slowly walked over to the tray. She sat down with her legs crossed and her arms at her sides. She was biting her lip again. I noticed she did that very often. I suspected she did that whenever she was nervous or thinking hard.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"It's… Well…" she sighed. "I'm really sorry if I'm bugging you, Master Splinter. I thought you were asleep and-"

I raised my hand up slightly, and she stopped talking.

"Lavinia, in all the time that you've stayed here you have never been a burden in any way, shape, or form. There is no shame in coming here. Even if you simply just wish to talk, you are always welcomed."

I slowly lowered my hand as I finished speaking. Lavinia stared at me, looking surprised and a little relieved. I reaised my hand again, gesturing to her cup of tea, asking her to take it. She stared down at it, hesitated, then finally reached forward and grasped the cup. I smiled as I grabbed my own and lifted it up. I watched Lavinia blow inside her cup before she took a sip, and I did as well. I took a long, slowly gulp before lowering the cup from my face. Lavinia still had the cup to her face, making soft sipping sounds. I raised my eyebrow slightly as she finally lowered the cup, and her eyes were closed as a small grin appeared on her face. I let out yet another chuckle. _Is there any way this child _can't _make me laugh?_

"So, tell me," I began. "What exactly were you doing in the dojo?"

Lavinia opened her eyes. "Oh. Well… I was trying to do those moves that you've been teaching the boys all week. It looked cool, and I wanted to try it."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Since Monday, when you taught it to them."

"Hmm…" I took another gulp from my tea. "Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that after your footing was fixed you performed it perfectly."

"I…I did?"

"Yes. You just needed a little help with your feet."

I grinned as Lavinia blushed, but not as nervous this time.

"I'm used to doing things on my own I guess," she said, shrugging. "That's how it always was. I mean, with daddy…"

She trailed off, and her face fell from her happy look into a look of nervousness. She even started biting her lip again. She quickly raised the cup to her face, taking long gulps. I narrowed my eyes. This is a subject that I had been wanting to understand more; Lavinia's _father. _I say it like that because I had a feeling he was never very fatherly towards her in any way. I had been wanting to ask Lavinia about it, wanting to know how bad her situation at her old home was. But, abuse was such a delicate matter, especially when a child is involved. The child may not understand completely, but any abusing done unto them could have any kind of affect on them. Even bringing the subject up could cause the child to feel insecure, even unsafe. It had to be at the right time, at the right moment. The child had to be assured that no harm of any kind would come to them. Only then would they feel comfortable in confessing the truth.

"Lavinia…"

She lowered the cup slightly, blinking her brown eyes up at me.

"Do you remember your first night here? Remember when I told you that you would safe here?"

Lavinia nodded.

"And I told you that no harm would come to you?"

She nodded again.

"Then you have nothing to be afraid, ashamed, or embarrassed of," I smiled gently. "You understand that, don't you?"

She nodded a third time. "Yes, I do. Why?"

I didn't answer for a moment. I took a final gulp from my tea, nearly draining the rest of it in one gulp. But I swallowed it slowly, letting the tea calm me; preparing me for what was coming. When I had drained the cup except for a few sips, I lowered it and placed it on the tray. I then placed my hands on my knees, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

"Lavinia, I am going to ask you about something. Something that you may or may not be ready to answer, and if so, I beg that you'll tell me."

Lavinia lowered her cup almost to the ground, looking up at me with a confused look. She appeared to have gulped, and she nodded.

"Okay… What is it?"

I sighed. "Lavinia… I need you to tell me about your father."

Lavinia inhaled sharply, a shocked look appearing on her face. She bit down on her lip as she hunched over, looking as if she was trying to hide herself away.

"Wh-what about him?" she stuttered.

I took a deep breath. "I need to know what he does to you, child," I told her. "How many times has he hurt you?"

Lavinia glanced up at me, keeping her head down as she did. She didn't answer me, and she gave no indication of wanting to speak. But I had to ask another question.

"Lavinia, the night that you came here- the night your father hurt your leg… Was that the first time he ever hurt you?"

Slowly, Lavinia shook her head, and my fears were confirmed. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to continue.

"Can you remember the first time he ever hurt you?"

She nodded again. But then- I had not expected her to do so- she spoke.

"I was four years-old. I was washing dishes after daddy ate dinner. He started drinking this weird stuff out of a brown bottle…"

_Alcohol… _I thought to myself.

"He came in the kitchen and started yelling at me," she fiddled with her hands. "I don't know why… I was doing what he said… He started throwing a couple plates, and one of them broke. He… threw it at… at me…"

She paused. Then her hand came up and grabbed onto her right shoulder. A second later she started to roll up her sleeve. I sat there and waited for what she was doing. She pulled her sleeve up to reveal her shoulder, and I was not prepared for what I saw. Right down the center of her shoulder was a long, pale scar. It wasn't even half an inch thick, but it was big enough to be noticed.

I sat there, speechless by what I had heard and what I had seen. I didn't know what to do or say. I had had a feeling that her situation was bad, but I wasn't sure how bad. I've never had any experience with this type of situation, but I could tell that it was worse than what Lavinia was letting on. This… _man_, was the lowest of the low. He had committed one of the most disgusting sins; harming an innocent child. I had grown up in a peaceful home with very loving parents, and the knowledge of any kind of abuse was unknown to me until I had reached my teenage years. Any kind of abuse was disgusting and horrible in my opinion, and when it involves a child… Sure, I disciplined my sons when they needed it, and I was training them to be deadly ninjas in the future, but to actually harm them in such ways… even the thought made me sick.

Lavinia hung her head as she lowered her sleeve back down. She was sitting still, her whole body now still. Except for her hands. I could see her tea cup shaking in her grasp, the remaining liquid threatening to spill. I slowly reached over, careful not to scare her. My hand made contact with hers, and it was shaking violently by now. I used my other hand to reach over and take the cup from her grasp. She didn't resist, and I set the cup down on the tray. I grasped her hands in both of my own and held them gently.

"Lavinia, listen to me," I spoke gently and softly. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. You will never have to worry about that man ever again. Me and my sons will never let him harm you again."

Lavinia finally looked up at me. She had an amazed look on her face, and her eyes were watery. I lifted my hand up and traced it down her cheek gently. I could've sworn I saw the corner of her mouth twitch.

"I promise," I finished lowly.

This time I knew I saw her mouth twitch, and it twitched into a small grin. It was small, but it was still there. _There, that's better, _I thought to myself.

"Um, Master Splinter…?"

"Yes, child?"

She licked her lips. "…What if I see him again?" she asked me. "What if…what if he tries to hurt me? I won't be able to stop him."

My brows furrowed. I could understand her concern. A man such as this was a constant fear for this poor girl, and she wanted nothing to do with him. True, I would never let him hurt her again. But what if he did somehow find her? And what if I'm not there to help? She'll never be able to defend herself…

_Unless…_

"Maybe we can change that."

Lavinia blinked. "How?"

"Simple," I said. "I can prepare you for such dangers by training you."

"You mean…?"

"What I mean is, I want to train you in the art of ninjutsu by training you to be a kunoichi. It is a female ninja," I added when she gave me a confused look. "You would be trained just as I'm training my son."

Lavinia's mouth dropped. "You… you mean it?"

I nodded. "Yes. But I must warn you. It will be one of the hardest things you'll ever do. It will drain you physically, mentally, and emotionally. But with the proper training, you should get through it. You were certainly able to do that form extremely well. By watching you earlier, I could see you have a natural skill for learning quickly and progressively."

As I said this Lavinia continued to smile at me. She was looking much happier than before, and that, in turn, made me happy as well.

"I'm always happy to take a student who is willing to learn," I said to her. "But the question is- are you willing to do the work?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed quickly. "Yes yes, I am!"

I smiled down at her. "Very well, then. We will start your training as a kunoichi."

Lavinia seemed to just swell up with happiness when I said that. She was smiling so widely it looked as though her face might burst. It was certainly the brightest smile I had seen on her. _She is like Michelangelo, _I thought to myself. _They both look better with smiles on their faces. _I glanced over at my small side table to look at the old clock. The time said 10:35 pm, long after my sons bedtime.

"It is late, Lavinia," I said. "You must go back to sleep now."

She nodded. "Okay."

Lavinia stood up from the ground, but did not head straight for the door. She slowly walked over and stood before me. With me sitting down, I was now eye-level with her. She did not speak, and neither did I. instead I waited to see what she was doing. She stood still for a few moments. Then she reached over, put her tiny arms around me, and gave me a hug. She squeezed me a little tighter when I did. It was strange; like she was trying to put a lot of unsaid things into a simple hug. My smoothed down her hair, and I patted her head; my way of telling her that I understood.

After a moment she released me, and I lowered my arms, keeping my hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks, Master Splinter," she said in a soft voice.

I nodded as I slowly lowered my hand from her shoulder.

"Goodnight, child."

"Goodnight."

Lavinia turned, and started heading for the door. Her hand was already on the surface when I spoke.

"Lavinia…"

She turned her head to look at me. I grinned.

"Your training starts tomorrow."

Lavinia beamed.

* * *

**There yah have it! Nia's gonna be a kunoichi! Isn't that awesome? Now, here's a question: What should her her weapon be? Now, i really want her to have two weapons. One of them IS gonna be a tessen. No question, no exception. She's gonna have one. But what should her other weapon be? PM me or tell me in the comments what her weapon be? Give me something cool to give this cool gal, k? Alright, I'll see yall later.**


	4. Mutation Days and Birthdays

**Hey hey hey, my lovelies! How are you today?**

**...**

**Great! And for those of you who've had a bad day, i'm super sorry. Hopefully i can help. See, i want to go ahead and get this prologue section of the story out of the way so i can start on the real stuff. And if i can get through this part, then i can finish out other stuff without thinking about this story for a while. So, sit back and read.**

* * *

Prologue: Part 4  
Mutation Days and Birthdays

Nia's P.O.V.

This morning I woke up to something really strange; silence. Not scary silence, but still silence. It was…weird. For the past 5 months I've been waking up to all kinds of noises; Donnie and Raph arguing, Leo watching 'Space Heroes,' and Mikey singing randomly for no reason. Not this time, though. I woke up and absolutely nothing was going on. I walked around the living room, the dojo, even looking by the boys' bedrooms. I didn't go in though. I didn't feel right going in without their permission. I knocked on their doors, but there was still nothing. I sighed. _I need some juice._

So, after that I made my way to the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes and yawned as I pulled the curtains back.

"Mikey, are you in here? Can I have some j-"

"SURPRISE!"

I yelped loudly as I jumped back several feet. I breathed heavily as I stood still for a few moments. All of the boys had just jumped out from various hiding places and had scared the heck out of me. Leo, Raph, and Donnie were all standing there with smiles on their faces.

"Guys, why?" I gasped when I started to calm down. "What was that for- Wait… Where's Mikey?"

But before they could speak there was a loud yell from above.

"Booyakasha!"

I looked up in time to see Mikey's smiling face before he landed on top of me. I fell to the ground and landed on my back with a loud _thump_, and Mikey landed on me as he wrapped his arms around me. Not exactly the best way to hug, but it was definitely creative.

"Hey Mikey," I mumbled as I hugged him back as best I could.

"Surprise, Nia!" he said as he lifted himself up so that his face was hovering over mine.

"Surprise? For what?"

"Come on! You didn't forget, did you? You're the one who told us today was your birthday!"

It was true. Today was my 9th birthday. 2 weeks ago I had asked they guys how old they all were and when their birthday was. They were all 8 years-old, and their birthday was September 29th; the same date as mine. Meaning that they were now 9 years-old as well. Though, they didn't call it a birthday. They called it a 'Mutation Day.' I had asked them what that meant, and they all said that Master Splinter could tell me. Then when I told them we shared the same day, they all went crazy, especially Mikey. He had started talking about how he wanted to do something awesome and crazy for me, but I told him I didn't want him or his brothers to fuss over me. It was still there Mutation Day, after all.

"Oh, right," I said. "My birthday."

"You did forget!" Mikey started poking my nose. "You silly, silly girl!"

I snorted. "I'm not that silly. C'mon, let me up."

Mikey rolled his eyes as he finally got off of me. Leo held his hand out to me to help me, and I took it as he pulled me up.

"Well, Happy Mutation Day, you guys," I told them.

"And Happy Birthday to you," said Leo.

"So, what's for breakfast?" I asked.

"Sensei's making us eat worms and algae again," Raph groaned. "And it's leftovers."

That was another thing I learned while staying here. Turns out the guys and Sensei didn't always get to eat human food. In fact, they were lucky if they could manage to find some normal food. Most of the time the only food they ate were worms and algae. I was a bit worried I'd have to eat that as well. But whenever the guys did have to eat that stuff, Sensei always gave me some normal white rice. If there was any salt and butter around I'd ask for some, but otherwise I was happy to have it just plain.

"Nothing special for your Mutation Day, then?" I asked.

"I guess not," said Donnie.

The next few minutes passed by rather quickly. Raph and Leo went ahead and sat in their seats at the table. Me and Donnie poured some glasses of regular milk for all of us. Mikey had already turned on the stove, put a pot on the burner, and was getting a container out of the refrigerator.

"I'll just heat this up and it'll be good," he said.

He opened the container, and I saw it was filled with what looked like green and blue goop, with tiny pink worms swimming inside it. Mikey brought it over to the pot he had placed on the stove and poured the stuff in. He turned the stove on and stood in front of it with his arms crossed.

"Oh! Your leftover rice is in the refrigerator, Nia."

"I'll get it," said Donnie as I reached for the fridge's door.

"Oh Donnie, no. You don't-"

"Oh, just let me," he insisted. "It's still your birthday, let me do something for you."

I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He smiled at me as he opened the fridge's door and grabbed the container that had my leftover rice in it. While he went to microwave it I grabbed the glasses of milk and set them all on the table.

"Thanks," said Leo.

"Your welcome."

After that I took a seat across from Leo.

"Hey, Mikey," Leo started. "What was that thing you said when you tackled Nia?"

"Oh, that was my new catchphrase," said Mikey.

"Catchphrase?" Raph asked.

"Yeah. See, people always say "surprise," when surprising someone, right? Well, I wanted to do something new. So, I spent all night coming up with something cool and different to say for when we saw Nia. I can up with "booyakasha." It's so cool I decided to make it my catchphrase."

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Cool catchphrase, Mike."

"Don't encourage him," whispered Raph. "You'll make it worse."

I giggled softly, and Raph smiled at me. I smiled back. A few seconds later he got out of his seat and walked around the table. I raised my brow as I watched him walk over to me. He paused, then jumped into the seat that Donnie usually sat in.

"Hey Donnie! Is it cool if I sit here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"Cool."

Raph folded his arms over the table and looked at me, a small grin on his face. I grinned back, and I folded my arms on the table as well. Raph glanced down at my arms, then at my face. Then he lifted one of his hands and rested his chin on it. I raised my brow again. Feeling curious, I lifted my hand and put my chin in it too. Raph drummed his fingers against his chin, and after a few seconds I did as well. He grinned a little more as he put his other hand under his chin. I giggled slightly as I did the same. This copycat game went on for a few seconds before Raph raised his brow, a small smirk growing on his face. Then he turned in his chair to face me completely, and he covered his face with his hands. I did the same, but I kept my fingers apart and my eye cracked open. I wasn't sure what he was up to, but I had a feeling it was…well, something.

Suddenly, his hands came off and he yelled.

"Boo!"

I gasped and nearly fell out of my seat as I leaned back. After a few seconds silence to catch my breath I smiled at him, and started laughing. He laughed too.

"Gotcha!"

"No fair! You tricked me!"

"Duh!"

I reached over and nudged his shoulder with my hand. He chuckled as he swatted it away.

"Are you guys done?" Leo asked dully.

"Shut up!" Raph snapped.

"Having fun, children?"

We all turned to see Master Splinter standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Morning, Sensei," I said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Lavinia. Good morning, my sons."

"Morning, Sensei," they all said.

Sensei walked over to his usual seat at the end of the table and sat down. At that moment Donnie came up to me with a small bowl of rice in his hands.

"Here you go, Nia."

"Thanks, Donnie."

Donnie smiled at me before walking over to sit next to Leo. At that moment Mikey came up with bowls of algae in his arms.

"Algae for everyone!" he said cheerfully.

He set the slightly steaming bowls of algae on the table in front of everyone else. Leo looked down at his bowl with an eyebrow slightly raised. Donnie looked at his bowl with a look of disgust. Raph simply glared at his bowl.

"You're lucky you don't have to eat this stuff," he muttered.

"Not my fault I can't eat it," I muttered back.

I picked up my fork and started to eat my rice, and the boys and Master Splinter started to eat their algae. All of them reacted differently; Splinter acted calm and normal, just like he usually did. Leo acted normal too, but I could've sworn I saw his eyes squint in discomfort. Donnie, however, made a disgusted noise every time he took a bite of his. Raph stabbed his food and made an angry noise every time he took a bite. Mikey was the only one who didn't act like he was eating complete garbage, and ate his without complaint. I felt bad for the guys to have to eat something they didn't like, but I just sat quietly and ate my rice.

"All done!" Mikey said after he had finished his bowl. "Anybody else want some more?"

"Nah."

"I'm good."

"No thanks."

I looked around at everyone. All the others had already finished their meal, and I still had a few more bites left. Which was surprising, seeing as how I had a more tasty plate.

"Are you all finished with your breakfast?" Master Splinter asked.

"Yeah, Sensei," said Leo.

"Good," Splinter turned his head to me. "Lavinia, wasn't there something you wanted to do this morning for the boys?"

"Hm…? Oh, yeah!"

I ate the last few bites of my rice before jumping out of my seat.

"Nia, where are you going?"

But I ignored Mikey and ran out of the kitchen. I ran over the couch and slide down in front of it. I reached my hand underneath the cushion and reached around for a moment until I felt the fabric of cotton. I smiled as I grabbed the fabric and yanked it out, and a small bag appeared. I opened the bag and looked inside, and was happy to see everything I needed was still there. What was there exactly? Simple; there were four small gifts I had for all of the guys. See, Master Splinter has been taking me on walks throughout the sewers so that I won't get lost in them. During some of those times I managed to find a few small items that I knew the guys would love. I've never had a birthday party, and I've never been to one, but I knew that people got gifts for their birthday. And they guys' Mutation Day was technically the same thing, right? So, I decided to used the items I found as their Mutation Day gifts. I had asked Sensei to keep it a secret, since I wanted it to be a surprise, and he agreed. I had planned on giving the gifts after we all finished our breakfast, and that's what I was going to do. _This is gonna be great!_

I stood up from in front of the couch and made a run for the kitchen. I got there so quickly that it felt like it was less than a second before I was standing in the room again. The guys were all there, staring at me in confusion.

"What's in the bag?" Raph asked.

I grinned slightly as I looked over at Master Splinter. He grinned as well, and then he stood up from his chair and walked over to stand beside me. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he looked at the boys.

"Lavinia has something for you, my sons," he said. "Special gifts for your Mutation Day."

The guys made sounds of surprise and glee, leaping from their chairs and walking over to me. I smiled at them all as I opened my bag. _I hope they'll like these…_

"Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Mikey jeered.

He pushed past his brothers and jumped up in front of me. I smiled as I reached inside the bag.

"Wait!" Mikey covered his eyes with his large hands. "Okay, now!"

I giggled at him. I then moved my hand around until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out the object and looked up at Mikey.

"Okay Mikey, open up."

Mikey opened his eyes at the same time I opened my hands, and his jaw dropped.

"A toy car!"

It was, indeed, a new toy car. It was a small, hand-sized jeep, and it was bright yellow. It had a small scratch on the left side, but other than that it looked fine. I had found it in a tunnel entrance the first time Sensei brought me out to the sewers. I had seen it and instantly thought of Mikey, and how he had told me he really wanted another toy car.

I held the small toy out to Mikey, telling him to take it. Mikey took the car from my hands and looked at me with a gleeful smile.

"Nia, you're awesome!"

Mikey wrapped his arms around me and gave another one of his rib-crushing hugs. I giggled as I hugged him back.

"Thanks, Mikey."

Mikey beamed at me before stepping to the side, gazing down at his new toy. I reached back inside the bag and grabbed the next item.

"Donnie…?"

Donnie blinked, looking surprised. Then he walked over to stand in front of me, his arms held behind him. I pulled out his gift, and he gasped. It was a small toy dinosaur. What was more, it also happened to be a long-necked dinosaur; Donnie's favorite. It's condition wasn't as good as the car was though. It had several scratches over it's body, but not so bad that someone could hate it. Or, at least, that's what I hoped. Donnie slowly reached for the toy and took it from my hands.

"I know it's kind of scratched up," I said. "But I thought you would like it…"

Donnie stared at the toy creature in his hands, not saying anything for a moment. Then he looked up at me, and he had a bright smile on his face, exposing the small gap in his teeth.

"I love it."

Feeling a little relieved, I smiled. "Your welcome."

Donnie smiled more, holding the toy Dino close to his chest. I reached in the bag for a third time.

"Oh, Leo…" I sang sweetly.

Leo chuckled as he walked forward. I grinned as I grabbed his gift from inside the bag.

"I really think you're gonna love this."

I slowly pulled the object out, and Leo gasped, his eyes wide. It was a comic book. But not just any comic book; it was the limited first edition of 'Space Heroes.' Not only that, it was still wrapped in plastic. _Good thing, too. That way it's not dirty._

"'Space Heroes' comic!" Leo yelped, grabbing the comic in his hands. "And it's still in the plastic? How did you…?"

"Found it in the sewers a while back," I told him. "Someone must've dumped it down here without even reading it."

"Why would someone do something like that?"

"'Cause it's a stupid show," mumbled Raph.

Leo glared at his brother, but otherwise ignored him. He looked back at me with a wide smile on his face.

"Thank you so much, Nia."

"You're welcome, Leo."

Leo smiled more as he leaned forward and gave me a one-armed hug. I hugged him back for a moment before letting him go. I looked over at Raph, and I saw he had a smug look on his face, and his arms were crossed.

"Aw, I get one, too?" he asked jokingly.

I giggled, and nodded. I opened the bag and reached inside, but this time, I hesitated. It had been hard to find something good for Raph. Like, really hard. He never acted like he wanted or needed anything. It was easy for the others because they practically screamed what they wanted. But, for Raph, I almost had no clue. I still remember the last time I went down the sewers with Sensei, and I had talked to him about it.

"_What if I can't find anything for him, Sensei? What if he'll hate me for it?"_

"_Lavinia, child, Raphael could never hate someone as kind as you. Do not worry, though. You will know the perfect gift when you see it."_

Ironically, I had just managed to find what I thought was the perfect just a few moments after that. I found the item, looked at it, and for some reason I thought of Raph. It didn't seem like something he needed, but something I'd like to give him.

"Hold your hand," I told him.

Raph shrugged and held his hand out to me. I retracted my hand, which was holding the object inside. I reached my hand forward, turned it, and dropped the item into Raph's hand. There was a small glimmer before he closed his hand on the thing. Raph brought his hand closer to him and uncurled his fingers. Inside his palm was a round, hand-sized locket without its chain. It was a soft, gold color, and it had a small star carved on the front.

"I just found that the other day in one of the pipes," I told him. "I couldn't find the chain, though. There's something written inside, too."

Raph didn't say anything for a moment. He messed with the locket and it popped open. In one side was a small sheet of glass to put a picture behind, and the other was plain, except for a small quote carved into the metal. Raph brought it close to his face and he squinted his eyes to read the tiny inscription. After a second he blinked, and his eyes went a little wide.

"What's it say?" Mikey asked as he looked over Raph's shoulder.

"Back off!" Raph snapped, shoving Mikey off of him.

"Raphael," Sensei said warningly.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Sorry Mikey."

"It's cool."

Raph turned away from his brother and looked at me. He glanced down at the locket in his hands as he closed it up.

"Do you…like it?" I asked nervously.

Raph looked up at me, and for a split second I thought he was going to laugh at me. Instead, his face broke into a grin, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "Thanks a lot, Nia."

I blinked, then smiled brightly at him.

"Well… your welcome."

"What now, Sensei?" Donnie asked Splinter.

Before he could do more than open his mouth Mikey's hand shot up.

"Oh, oh! Tell Nia the story, Sensei!" he cried. "The one when we were mutated!"

"Have I not told her that story yet?" he asked.

"No, Sensei," I replied.

He stroked his chin for a moment, thinking it over. He looked down at me.

"Would you like to hear the story, Lavinia?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, please."

He nodded. "Very well."

"Yay!"

Mikey grabbed my wrist and drug me over to sit next to him at the table. Raph sat on the other side of me, and Leo and Donnie sat on the other side. Sensei walked back to his seat on the end and sat down in his chair. He looked at us all before starting to speak.

"Many years ago, when I was still human, I had gone to the pet store to by some baby turtles…"

* * *

"C'mon, Nia! Get it!"

"I'm trying!"

Today was a fun day, I'd just like to say. After Sensei told the story of how him and the guys were mutated, he had told us that there would be no training today. We were free to roam and play as we pleased. Like now, for instance. I was currently playing a videogame with Mikey, and Raph was watching while sitting next to me. I don't remember what the game was called, but I did know that I was in the middle of a boss fight with this giant alien creature. Mikey's player had already been killed so I was on my own, and I was about to loose.

"Use your laser gun!" Mikey shrieked.

"But I'm out of ammo!"

"Use the grenade!" said Raph.

I pressed the button on the controller that activated the grenade, and my guy on the screen threw it at the alien boss. It hit the thing right on it's giant blue head as it gave a loud screech. Then the whole thing blew up, and the words "PLAYER 2 WINS" came up in bright red caps. Mikey jumped to his feet and did an air-guitar move while making loud guitar noises. Raph yelled and raised his hand up for a high-three. I separated my fingers so that my pointer and middle finger were together, and my ring and pinky finger were together. I then brought my hand to Raph's and gave him a high-three.

"Sweet!" he said.

I nodded. "I know, right?"

"Dudette, you are awesome!" Mikey jeered, putting an arm around me. "Too bad you didn't beat my high score."

"You still died, dummy," said Raph.

"Yeah, but I still got the best score in the game."

"Oh yeah?" Raph smirked. "I bet Nia could beat you."

"Huh?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I'm pretty good at this already."

"Do you challenge me?" Mikey asked, sounding horrified, yet playful.

I giggled. "Maybe I am."

Before Mikey could open his mouth Leo, Donnie, and Sensei all walked in at that moment. Master Splinter walked up behind us, evidently observing the area.

"And what are you three up to?" he asked.

"We were just playing video games, Sensei," said Mikey. "And Nia's awesome at it!"

"Awesome enough to beat your score," I said, smirking. Now I was challenging him.

"Pfft! Please! Nobody can beat the video game master!"

I giggled as I glanced up at Master Splinter, who I happen see roll his eyes, a small grin on his face. He then leaned over and whispered something to Leo. Leo nodded, then went over to Raph and whispered in his ear, too.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Mikey.

"Dunno. I'll find out," he hopped over the couch and walked over to Donnie. "Dude, what's-"

Donnie covered Mikey's mouth and then started whispering into his ear. Mikey's eyes went slightly wide as Donnie moved his hand away from his brother's mouth.

"Oh, yeah…" Mikey muttered, suddenly understanding.

"What?" I asked, looking at everyone. "What is it?"

Nobody said anything, but all the boys had smiles on their faces. Sensei walked up to me and held out his hand.

"Come, Lavinia," he said. "My sons and I have something to show you."

"Oh, okay."

I reached up and grasped Sensei's hand. He helped me to my feet and led me out of the living room, the boys following close behind us. Master Splinter led me off to the area where the boys' bedrooms were and led me past them to where a fifth room sat at the end of the hall. Master Splinter had told me to stay out of that room, that it was full of junk that didn't need to be messed with. If that was true, why was I being led straight to it? Master Splinter didn't stop walking until we were directly in front of the door.

"Close your eyes, Lavinia," he told me.

"Okay."

I lowered my head slightly and covered my eyes with my hands. There was a loud creaking sound, like the door was being opened. I heard several pairs of feet moving, and I could feel the guys were standing all around me. I felt a hand on my back, and I knew it was Splinter.

"Alright, child. Open your eyes."

I lifted my head up, uncovered my eyes, and opened them.

"Surprise!" the boys shouted.

I stared. And I stared. And I stared a little more. I blinked a few times too, just to make sure my vision was cleared. I even rubbed my eyes just to be safe. But when I lowered my hands the sight before me was still the same. But…I didn't know what to make of it. It's was so confusing. This room should be full of junk; it should be messy. It shouldn't look like a… like a bedroom. But, it did. I took a few steps inside, and it still looked like a bedroom. On one side of the room there was a single-person bed with a dark purple comforter and a yellow pillow on one end. Next to it was a small side table that had a small, battered old lamp whose light was surprisingly still working. On the other side of the room was a small, but decent dresser that could hold several sets of cloths, and above it hanging on the wall was a round, slightly dusty mirror. There was a small brush on the dressers' surface, but other than that, nothing.

I blinked several more times, unsure of what I was looking at. I glanced back over at the bed, and saw something I didn't see before. There were four object laying in front of the pillow- two of them were items I knew very well; Mikey's yellow truck, and Donnie's dinosaur book. The other two items were what looked like cards; one was colored solid blue with a crayon and had the Hamato Clan symbol drawn in red(I found out what that was shortly after my training started), and the other was colored yellow with a star drawn in green. I had a feeling the one with the symbol was from Leo, and the one with the star was from Raph.

I had no idea what this was about, what this was for, or what was going on. And I was a little nervous to find out. I gulped, turned my head away from the objects on my bed and looked up at Master Splinter.

"What…is this?" I breathed.

"This," Sensei gestured all around. "Is your new bedroom, child. My sons and I felt that it was time for you to have your own room, especially if you're going to be staying with us for a while."

I looked at the guys, and saw they had the biggest smiles on their faces.

"I… I don't know what to say…"

"It is alright, child," said Splinter. "Though, this is not all we have for you."

I stared at him, eyebrows raised. They had just given me a room, what more could they possibly have? Sensei took a few steps towards me before kneeling down on one of his knees so he was eye-level with me. He lifted his hand up and brushed my bangs away from my face, then placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Lavinia, my sons and I have something we'd like to ask you."

I gulped. "O-okay…"

Splinter looked back at the boys, who were all standing by his side, excited looks on all their faces. Splinter smiled at them before looking back at me.

"We have given this some thought, and talked it over many times, and now we are ready to ask you," he took my hand in his free one, squeezing it gently. "Lavinia… would you like be a part of this family?"

I probably would've fallen if Sensei wasn't holding my hand. _Did he… Did he just say…?_ I took several long, staggered breaths, trying to keep myself calm. I looked over at the guys, and they were practically beaming by now. Mikey looked like he was about to burst with excitement as he hopped on his feet slightly. I gulped once more as I looked up at Splinter. He really meant it. He really wanted me to be a part of his family. They all did. That fact alone was enough to make me cry with happiness. I would've said yes on the spot, if it wasn't for one thing…

"Honestly… I kinda thought I already was…"

Sensei blinked, and a wide smile appeared on his face. All nervousness gone, replaced with undying happiness, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him and a huge hug. Splinter hugged me back, patting my head softly.

"Booyakasha!"

I barley had enough time to back away from Sensei before Mikey jumped on me, tackling me to the ground in a huge hug. I laughed happily as I hugged him back, and he let me sit up while keeping an arm around me.

"Welcome to the family, dudette!" he jeered.

"I'm so glad you're staying," Donnie said as he kneeled in front of me.

"Why would I ever leave you guys?"

Donnie smiled as he opened his arms, and I gave him a small, but meaningful hug. He then helped me to my feet as Leo walked up to me.

"I was scared you were gonna say no," he said quietly.

"Oh, come on," I reached up and pinched his cheek. "I can't say no to that face."

He chuckled, his green cheeks going slightly pink, and he wrapped his arms around me at the same time I did to him. We hugged for a few seconds before separating at last. _One turtle left…_ I looked over in front of me, and I saw Raph. He was standing there, looking at the ground, his arms folded in front of him.

"Raph…?" I asked, unsurely.

For a moment, it looked like he wasn't going to do anything. Then he slowly took several slow steps forward, then suddenly halted in mid step. He scratched his arm for a moment, hesitating. Then he took about three really quick steps before he was in front of me. When he was, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and hugged me tightly. It was the first hug he had given me since I first arrived here.

"Happy Birthday, Nia," he whispered.

I paused, taking a moment for the smile to grow on my face. Then I slowly wrapped my arms around his shell.

"Thanks, Raph."

* * *

**Awww! *sniff, sniff* Did that get to you like it got to me?**

**...**

**No? ...Well, screw you then. Anyways, how did you like this chapter? Like it? Love it? Good? Bad? I would really like to know, so please leave a review for me. i really appreciated when you give me your opinions on my stories, so please leave some for me. KK, i'll c yall later.**


	5. The Five Hamato Children

**Hey guys! Guess what? Yesterday was my 18TH BIRTHDAY!**

***people clap and cheer***

**Yes, yes! I know! I'm a legal adult now! Now, i wanted to post this yesterday as a sort of B-Day gift to myself, but i got tired and passed out, so...yeah. So instead, i posted this on Nov. 29th, the day after my birthday.**

**Oh! Guess what i got! My lovely, amazing boyfriend got me "How To Train Your Dragon 2" on DVD! AHHH! LOVE YOU BABY! Which means that i'll finally be able to do a sequel on "Hicca and Her Dragon!"**

**But, until then, i have this. The final prologue chapter of this story. Now, enjoy...**

* * *

Prologue: Part 5  
The Five Hamato Children

(1 year and a half later)

This was it. Today was the day. Me and my brothers were going to be presented with our official ninja masks, and our weapons. They boys would no longer wear the masks that covered their heads like hats. I didn't know what I was going to get. Leo thought that I was going to get a mask like they were today instead of getting a mask like they've always had. I hope so. I was also excited about what my weapon would be. Sensei had been training us for over a month with many different weapon, training us to see which weapon would "choose" us, as he had said. A few I felt okay about, others I felt confident I'd succeed with. All I knew was that I was excited to find out which one I'd have.

Me and the boys were kneeling down on the mat, waiting for Sensei to come out of his room and present us with our masks and weapons. We sat there for what felt like hours before he finally emerged from his room. I straightened up a little when he approached, but otherwise, stayed still. Sensei walked until he stood in front of us, his arms held behind him. By his feet was a small wooden box on his left, and a folded up sheet on his right.

"You are all here because you all have advanced to the next level of your training. You all have come one step closer to becoming true warriors. Today, you all have progressed. Today, you become ninjas."

I heard Mikey give a tiny squeal of happiness from next to me, and I had to resist the urge to laugh. I bit on my lip as I looked up at Sensei. He bent down so that he was now kneeling in front of us. He reached over to the box and opened it. I saw several colors inside, no doubt several masks. Sensei reached in, and grabbed a blue one.

"Leonardo…"

Leo quickly got to his feet and walked towards Sensei, who held the mask out to him.

"The blue mask; the color of trust, loyalty, wisdom, and confidence. It symbolizes one's integrity. May you wear it and represent it well."

Splinter handed the mask to Leo, who took it in his shaking hands. Leo slowly lifted the mask to his face and put it on, tying it tightly. His arms fell and he lifted his face back up. Maybe it was just the mask, but the look on his face seemed different; he looked more mature. Splinter then reached under the sheet with both of his hands, and retrieved two large katanas.

"The katana; it is the weapon of a leader, one who will guide his warriors to victory. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Leo stared in disbelief that Sensei had presented him with such a weapon. Lifting trembling hands, Leo took the two swords from Splinter. He smoothed his fingers over the blade, careful not to cut himself. Then he looked up at Splinter and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Leo turned and slowly walked back to his spot next to Raph. Sensei reached back inside the box and grabbed a red mask.

"Raphael…"

Raph stood up and walked over to Splinter, and there was more confidence in his step than Leo's. Sensei held the mask out to him.

"The red mask; the color of strength, determination, willpower, and passion. It symbolizes one's courage. May you wear it and represent it well."

Raph took the mask from Splinter's hand and quickly tied it on his face. As his hands fell a small smirk grew on his still boyish face. Unlike Leo, Raph had a more smug expression on his face. Sensei reached into the sheet and retrieved two large sais.

"The sai; it is the weapon of a defender, one who will fight for others as well as himself. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Raph blinked at the weapon he was given. He reached up with confident hands and took the weapons from Sensei's hands. He looked down at them, then bowed slightly to Splinter.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Keeping the small smirk on his face, Raph turned and went back to his spot between Leo and Donnie. I could've sworn I saw him glace over at me, but I kept my face forward as Sensei reached into the box and pulled out a purple mask.

"Donatello…"

Donnie quickly got to his feet and walked towards Splinter, slightly tripping on his feet as he did. I could see his dark green cheeks go slightly pink, but he kept a straight face as Sensei held the mask out to him.

"The purple mask; the color of dignity, independence, creativity, and ambition. It symbolizes one's overall wisdom. May you wear it and represent it well."

I heard Donnie give the slightest gulp as he timidly took the mask from Splinter. He grinned down at his mask before he put it on. This time, he had a smart, confident look on his face. Sensei reached into the sheet with his hand, and brought out a large Bo staff.

"The Bo staff; It is the weapon of a peacekeeper, but one who is willing to fight only for what is right. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Donnie's eyes went wide, a small smile growing on his face as he took the weapon. He rubbed his hand along the wood, as though admiring it. Then he held it at his side and bowed to Splinter.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Donnie turned, and he had a much happier smile on his face as he sat back down. Sensei reached back into the box and picked up an orange mask.

"Michelangelo…"

"Yeah!"

Mikey jumped up to his feet and raised his fists in the air, apparently unable to stop himself. We all stared at him, but I was the only one who giggled at his silliness. Sensei didn't respond, though I did see a small smile appear on his face. Mikey cleared his throat and them jumped over in front of Splinter, who handed Mikey the mask.

"The orange mask; the color of enthusiasm, fascination, attraction, and encouragement. It symbolizes one's pure, overall happiness. May you wear it and represent it well."

Mikey gave another tiny squeak and grabbed the mask from Sensei's hands. He hummed slightly as he tied it on quickly around his head. He now had a more gleeful, boyish look on his face. Splinter reached inside the sheet, but his time he paused. It almost looked like he was hesitating. Then he pulled out two pairs of nunchucks.

"The nunchuck; it is the weapon of a wild warrior, one who is willing to risk it all for the safety of others. This is the weapon that has chosen you, my son."

Mikey made a loud "ooh-ing" sound as he gazed at his new weapon. He snatched them from Splinter's hands and waved them around a bit. He opened his mouth, as though about to say his catchphrase, but Splinter held his hand up.

"Please save your excited outbursts for later, my son."

Mikey placed both of his hands over his mouth, no doubt to keep his outburst from happening. He turned and jumped back into his seat next to me, his hands still over his mouth. I covered my mouth slightly as I let out a tiny giggle. I turned my head just as Sensei retrieved his hand out of the box, but his hand was closed.

"Lavinia…"

I bit down on my bottom lip. _It's okay, Nia. Just breath… _I slowly got to my feet and walked over to stand in front of Sensei. I was taking slow, deep breaths to keep myself calm, and it was working mostly.

"This is mask I've had for a long time," said Splinter. "And I thought I would never find anyone worthy of wearing it. Until now…"

Sensei reached his free hand to the one that was closed, and then pulled it back as he exposed the mask that was inside. I blinked in surprise. The mask was the brightest, purest white I had ever seen in my life. It looked so beautiful to me I nearly sighed at the sight.

"The white mask; the color of light, innocence, safety, and purity. It is a symbol of one's goodness. May you wear it and represent it well.

I stared in amazement at the mask I was being given. _He really thought he'd never give it to anyone? …And he wants me to have it…? _I gulped down the lump that was in my throat, and slowly reached up and took the mask in my hands. I gazed down at the soft fabric in my hands, and slowly lifted it up to my face. The cloth was soft against my skin, and I tied it up without catching it in my hair. I lowered my hands to my sides and looked up at Splinter. He gave me a small smile. The he reached under the sheet with both hands and they came back out with a kama in each hand.

"The kama; it is the weapon of a protector, one who always puts others needs before her own, even in her darkest moments. This is the weapon that has chosen you… my daughter."

I inhaled slowly as I glanced down at the weapon in Sensei's hands. Me? A protector? Is that possible? But as I looked up at Master Splinter, and saw the look in his eyes, I knew that he knew what he was doing. I smiled slightly as I reached up for my new weapons. I grabbed the wooden handles and lifted them up to my face. I lowered my arms down and bowed to Splinter.

"Thank you, Sensei."

"Yes," he said. "The kama will be you _secondary_ weapon."

I blinked and looked up at him, slightly confused. "Secondary, Sensei?"

Splinter didn't answer me. Instead he turned his head to look at the guys.

"My sons, I must speak with Lavinia alone, please."

The boys all looked at each other, clearly confused. Then Leo stood up from his spot.

"We'll just go outside," he looked down at the others. "Guys, come on."

Leo turned and started to head to the exit. Slowly, one by one, the others stood up and followed him out. I stood there and watched them all leave the room. I slowly turned my head back to Splinter.

"Is…something wrong, Sensei?" I asked.

"Not at all," he stood up on his feet. "In fact, this is a very good thing."

"What is?"

Splinter smiled at me. "Lavinia, it seems you have a particular gift. Not only do your skills improve rather quickly, you have the potential to master more than one weapon."

"I thought ninjas could use any weapon, Sensei."

"Any ninja can learn to use any weapon, but few can learn to fully master more than one weapon. It is a gift I've had for a long time, and it seems you have it as well."

I bit my lip as I thought about what he said. It made sense. The guys had had two whole years of training before I had even met them, and now I was graduating at the same level as them. It was obvious I had a natural skill for learning quickly.

"You said this was my secondary weapon," I said, lifting my kama up slightly. "So…what's my primary weapon?"

Sensei grinned down at me. "Wait here."

He turned around and headed towards his room. I stared at him until his bedroom door was shut. _What is he up to? _I sighed slightly as I set my kamas down on the floor and looked around the room, not really having anything else to do. This place was oddly quiet without the guys in here training. My eyes continued to glance around the whole area until they landed on the small bookshelf that sat in the room, and then on the small picture that sat on the top shelf. Unconsciously, my feet moved forward towards the shelf until I stood directly in front of the picture frame. It was a simple photo; it was a black and white image of a tall man and a beautiful woman holding a small baby in her arms. While the couple both had straight faces, the baby appeared to be smiling. It was difficult to tell, but for some reason I felt that the baby was probably a girl. But I wouldn't know. I had been looking at his photo since my very first time in the dojo, and to this day I didn't know who was in the picture. I felt that Splinter would know, but I felt like I'd be invading his privacy by asking him. Bottom line; I was too nervous to ask.

"Lovely photo, isn't it?"

I gasped and whipped around. Once again, Master Splinter had managed to somehow sneak up on me. He did this very often, Raph even made a comment that he needed a bell or something once. Splinter looked down at me, a calm look on his face. I took a deep breath and relaxed.

"Yes, it is," I bit my lip. "Um…Sensei?"

"Yes?"

I sighed. "I've been looking at his picture for over a year, and I… well…"

"You wish to know who is in the photo."

I gulped. "Yeah…"

Sensei nodded. Then he walked around me and reached up, grabbing the photo in the hand that wasn't behind his back. He kept his eyes down at it as he turned to face me, then glanced up at me.

"Lavinia, you never have to be afraid to ask me something. You know that."

I nodded. "Hai, Sensei," I shuffled my feet. "So…who are they?"

Sensei smiled slightly as he lowered the picture enough for me to see it.

"It is my family."

I blinked. "Your… family?"

He nodded. "Yes. That is me, when I was still human. That his my wife, Tang Shen, and my baby daughter, Miwa."

"You were married?"

"Yes, a long time ago. I good friend of mine had introduced me to her years ago. Miwa was born a year after we were married."

I glanced down at the picture, at the tiny, smiling baby Miwa.

"What… happened to them?" I asked timidly, scared to ask.

Sensei took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. He seemed to hesitate from saying anything. He glanced up at me, and he had a sad, pitying look on his face.

"They… were taken from me," he said lowly. "Taken by a man who I thought was my brother."

I hunched over, feeling ashamed to have asked. "I'm sorry…"

"It is fine. I've made peace with it now."

I gave a small nod, suddenly feeling nervous for bringing such a subject up in the first place. I scratched my arm out of nervousness, and glanced back down at the picture. Though Splinter and his wife had straight faces, I could tell that they were no doubt happy at the time.

"…They were beautiful," I said quietly.

"Indeed," Splinter looked up at me, and I thought I saw the corner of his mouth twitch. "You know, Miwa would be about your age now."

I looked up. "Really?"

"Yes. She would only be a year older than you and your brothers," a kind smile suddenly stretched across his face. "I would like to think she would've grown to be as talented, kind, and wonderful as you are… my daughter."

I blinked, and I felt a smile appear on my face as well. Sensei's smile widened slightly as he gently set the photo back on the shelf.

"Which is why I have no shame in giving you this…"

He finally brought his other hand from behind his back, revealing what looked like a solid black club-like object. I tilted my head slightly as I stared at the thing, wondering what it was.

"This is something I've had for a long time," said Master Splinter. "I had it specially made so that I could pass it on to my daughter, Miwa. But I now give this to you, my child."

In one swift movement, Sensei used one hand to apparently open the object, which turned out to be some sort of fan. I glanced at it for a few seconds before I realized it was a tessen; an iron war fan. I had done some research on most ninja weapons some time after Sensei started training me, and one of the first things I saw was the tessen. I admired most of the other weapons, but the tessen was my personal favorite. The beauty and the creativity of it, the power that it contained, it was all together a beautiful weapon. But the one Sensei was showing me… I had never seen a tessen like it. It was solid black, and the blade was so smooth that it looked like it might cut me if I tried to touch it. It had pretty white flowers painted on each side of the fan, but the center caught my attention the most. It was the Hamato Clan symbol, and it was cut into the iron like it was a cutout. This thing was, altogether, downright stunning!

"Sensei…" I breathed. "It's…beautiful…"

He nodded. "Indeed. And also…"

He suddenly flung his arm out, tossing the tessen into the air. I whipped around and watched as it spun away from us, around the tree, and then headed back to us. I gasped, reacted instantly, and lifted my hand up as it finally met us. I squinted my eyes, prepared for the blade to slice my hand. But it didn't. I opened my eyes, and I was surprised to see that I had caught it and closed it in my hand.

"…very powerful," Splinter finished.

"Wow…"

I blinked several times as I lowered my hand, gazing at the tessen. I spread my fingers out and it opened up smoothly. I smiled, surprised and happy that I had been given such a thing. And yet, I felt the slightest pinch of guilt in my gut. Splinter, as usual, seemed to have noticed, because from the corner of my eye I saw him look down at me with concern.

"What is wrong, my daughter?"

I bit my lip as I turned to face him fully. I could tell that I would love this weapon to death, but I didn't know if I would feel right about using it. _He made it specifically for his _real_ daughter. What right do I have to use it, or even hold it?_

"I just… I just don't think I have the right to have this," I said quietly. "You made it for Miwa… do you really feel that I have any right to use it?"

Sensei sighed deeply, a calming look on his face. He took a few steps towards me and placed an arm on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Lavinia… the loss of a loved one is a pain like no other," he told me. "Someone cannot simply let it go, not even me. But I do learn to live with it, and each day that passes is a day that I grow stronger. I've come to terms with the fact that they have passed on; they are at peace, and I should be as well. I have no shame giving this to you. I like to think of this as a way of me officially letting go of Miwa," he gently brushed my bangs behind my ear. "And I feel so blessed to have you as my daughter now, and I would not have it any other way."

I stared up at him, feeling breathless. Did he really mean that? Did he really think of me as a daughter just like he thought of Miwa? How could I be that special to him? But one look into this man's eyes told me that I didn't need to ask him these questions. All the answers were in the loving look he was giving me, and the gentle hand that was smoothing against my cheek. I smiled up at him, feeling much happier than I thought I would be today. I bowed my head respectively.

"Thank you, Sensei."

* * *

"_Come here, you!"_

"_Daddy, no!"_

"_Don't talk back to me, you freaking brat!"_

_A large, pale hand grabbed my wrist, squeezing it painfully. I pulled away, slapping his arm, but he only squeezed harder. The pressure on my thin wrists increased, and I whimpered in pain. Another hand went to the back of my head and gripped at my hair, pulling it tightly. I fell down to my knees, causing the pressure on my hair and wrist to grow worse. The pain was unbearable; it was spreading throughout my entire body, making me feel like I was on fire. I squinted my eyes, and I was surrounded by something green and glowing. I was completely covered in it, and I felt like I was burning to death._

"_You're nothing but a pathetic brat!" daddy's voice shouted at me. "A worthless, little freak who ain't worth shi-"_

"_NO…!"_

I gasped as my eyes snapped opened. I quickly sat up, a rushing feeling forcing me up from my mattress. Panting and gasping, my chest rose and fell rapidly, adrenaline rushing through my very limbs. I gulped the huge lump in my throat, trying to calm myself. I desperately tried to slowly my breaths, gripping at my bed sheets with all my might as I tried doing what Splinter told me to do the last time something like this happened. _Just hold your breath, then slowly breath in… _I did as I thought, holding my breath for a moment before slowly breathing in. _That's it. Breath in… breath out… _I told myself. _You're okay… you're okay… it was just a nightmare… again._

Suddenly the door burst open, and I gasped as I whipped my head up. I could see two figure standing in my doorway, but I couldn't tell who it was at first.

"Nia, what's wrong?"

"Dudette, are you okay?"

_Raph… Mikey… _I reached over to the side table for the small lamp and turned the switch, illuminating the room in a dim light. It was, indeed, Raph and Mikey. They didn't have their masks on anymore. _Aw man. I woke them up, didn't I? _They were standing in the doorway, looking at me with concern. I gulped, licking my lips as I nodded.

"I'm fine, guys…" I paused. "…No, no I'm not."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Mikey asked timidly.

I gulped, and nodded. At once, both turtles walked over to me; Raph stood up in front of me, and Mikey sat next to me on the bed. Raph kneeled in front of me as Mikey put a hand on my back.

"Do you wanna talking about?" Raph asked.

"Yeah, don't be afraid to speak," said Mikey encouragingly. "We're right here for you."

"Guys, what's going on?"

I looked up and saw Leo and Donnie standing just inside the room, and like the other two, they didn't have their masks on either. I felt slightly guilty, knowing that I had woken all the boys up.

"Nia had a nightmare," said Mikey as he rubbed my back.

"Are you okay?" Donnie asked worriedly.

I shrugged my shoulders lazily, not sure how to respond. Leo took a few steps forward.

"What happened?" he asked.

I gulped. I never liked talking about my old father(for lack of a better word), and now I was having nightmares about him again. The last time I had nightmares about him was a few weeks before my 10th birthday and the guy's Mutation Day.

"It was about… my old dad…"

I glanced down and I saw Raph clench his hands into fists. The boys might not know the specifics about how badly I was treated, but they knew that he was a really bad towards me.

"Another one?" Donnie asked. "I thought you said those ones stopped."

"I thought so, too," I said. "But… I don't know… they just happen, I guess."

"Why?" Mikey asked. "How bad was he?"

I froze, biting down on my bottom lip, a constant bad habit of mine. I wasn't quite sure what to do now. The only person in this lair that I've ever talked to about my old father was Master Splinter, and that was because I felt I could trust him with anything. _But, I trust the boys, don't I…? _Well, that was the question; did I trust the boys enough to talk about my old father in front of them? The answer was simple.

_Yes…_

So, for the next few minutes I told the boys everything; how I always got slapped by my old father at least once or twice a day, how he would rage on me whenever he drank, how he would starve me in the morning and never gave me anything until at least the afternoon. I even told them about how I got the scar on my right shoulder, showing it to all of them. They all reacted differently to seeing the scar; Donnie looked horrified, Leo looked shocked and confused, Raph looked furious, and Mikey looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"It went on for eight years," I later explain, pulling the short sleeve of my nightgown back over the scar. "Then one night, he got really mad at me," I paused. "He's… he's the one who broke my leg, the night we all met. I guess he dumped me in the ally after he was done with me. Then you guys found me…"

But I couldn't go on after that. I just…couldn't. What more could I say? How else could I explain? I just exposed all my dark secrets of the horrible man who raised me to these four boys- boys who have been my brothers for over a year, and I trusted them completely. But that didn't make the pain of explaining everything lessen. I was gripping at my bed sheets, my fingers feeling like they were about to tare a hole in them. I was biting down on my lip hard to keep down the sob that was threatening to burst from my throat.

"Look, it's alright," I said, but the crack in my voice said otherwise. "Really. Just… just go back to bed. It doesn't matter…"

I squinted my eyes shut, forcing the hot tears in my eyes to stay in and not fall down. I heard feet shuffling, and I opened my eyes up. The boys had all huddled around each other, whispering to each other. Mikey appeared to be the one talking the most, like he had a plan that the others were listening to. After a few moments they all straightened up, smiling as they nodded to each other. Then they all turned and headed for the door. I raised my eyebrow as they all walked out, except for Mikey, who stood by the doorway.

"Grab your pillow, Nia," he said. "Then come out, okay?"

"What?"

But he turned and left the room. I stared after him, confused. _Alright, then…_ I sighed as I reached behind me and grabbed my pillow. Pulling the covers off of me, I stood up and walked out the door, and I could see Mikey standing there with his own pillow, too.

"Hold up!"

Suddenly he jumped at me and covered my eyes with his hands. I yelped slightly, staggering back a few steps.

"Mikey! Wha-"

"Shh! We gotta be quiet!" he whispered. "Splinter's still asleep. Go on, guys."

I heard more shuffling of feet, and I knew the others were walking away.

"It's okay, Nia," Mikey said. "Just keep your eyes closed, and I'll be your guide.

Confused, but wanting to play along with whatever game he was playing, I did as Mikey asked and kept my eyes closed when he removed his hands from my face. He grabbed my hand with his, but grabbed my wrist since my hand was holding a pillow, and quickly but quietly started pulling me away. I was a little nervous as to where he was taking me, but I trusted him enough not to worry. Besides, I knew this place well enough to know where I was going. He had already led me out of the hall where all the bedrooms were at and appeared to be leading me to the living room.

"Easy…" Mikey whispered, and he let go of my hands. "Okay… open."

I grinned slightly, already anticipating something good coming from this, and I opened my eyes. As expected, we were in the living room, but it looked different. The small table that usually sat in front of the couch had been moved out of the way into some other location. This would've left the floor bare if it weren't for the large blankets placed next to each other, making it look like one big quilt. Four small pillows laid on different spots, indicated that those spots were reserved. I looked around and saw Leo, Don, and Raph standing around the blankets, smiles spread across their faces.

"What is this?" I asked them, gesturing to the display.

"We're gonna have a sleepover," Mikey said happily.

"It was Mikey's idea," said Donnie. "He thought it would make you feel better."

"What do you think?" asked Leo.

I looked back down at the pile of blankets, clutching the pillow close to my chest. What could I say? "Thank you?" No, it wasn't enough. "It's wonderful?" Still not enough. _Well, what else could I say?_

"…I love it."

_There, that sounds good. _It definitely seemed enough, because all the boys smiled at me. Mikey made a small, happy sound as he ran up and jumped down on the blankets, sitting by the pillow at the bottom left corner. I giggled as I walked over to the blankets and sat directly in the middle. I sat and waited as the others came down to join me and Mikey; Donnie sat across from Mikey, Raph sat at the top right corner, and Leo sat at the top left. They were all messing with their pillows and straightening the blankets to mold together as I set my pillow down and laid my head against it.

"Thanks guys," I sighed. "Really, thanks."

"That's what brothers are for," I heard Donnie say.

I looked up and saw Leo and Raph grinning down at me. There was a tiny giggle and I felt somebody wrap their arms around my waist. I glanced down, and as predicted, it was Mikey. He had a calm, happy smile on his face, his eyes were closed, and he nuzzled his nose into my tummy.

"Don't worry, Nia," he said lowly, nuzzling his face a little more. "We won't let that mean man get you."

I smiled, placing my hand on his head, rubbing my fingers against his scalp before folding that arm under my head. I glanced over at Donnie, and was surprised to see him scoot up slightly and rest his head against my leg. He paused for a second, then reached up and grabbed my hand that was laying at my side.

"You'll never see him again," he said as he closed his eyes.

I blinked, surprised at what was happening. Suddenly I felt something slide under my left arm and then wrap around my shoulder, gripping it tightly. I turned my head to the left, and I realized that it was Raph. He was holding onto my shoulder, his forehead buried in my shoulder blade.

"He'll never hurt yah," he whispered gruffly. "Never."

I smiled at him, not sure what to say. Something then grabbed my right wrist, rubbing it gently. I turned my head back to the right, and I saw Leo holding onto my wrist, rubbing it with his large thumb.

"You'll always be safe with us, Nia," he said gently. "No matter what."

I couldn't help it. I just couldn't. I blinked, and a single tear from the tears I would've cried before in my room fell. But instead of being a tear of sadness, it came out as a tear of joy. And, feeling happier and more safe than I had ever been, I closed my eyes, and fell asleep with my four amazing brothers.

* * *

Splinter's P.O.V.

I knew that my sons were good children. I could look into their eyes and know that they were good. And I knew that they cared for Lavinia. I've heard them say multiple times that they loved their sister very dearly, and I knew that their words and their hearts were true. They could never lie about something like that. But I do not think I ever truly knew the power in their words, or how truly they loved the dear girl. Until now…

I had been inside the dojo, meditating as I usually did. I was interrupted when I had heard Lavinia scream. It wasn't a normal scream; it was the same scream she always did whenever she had a nightmare about her old father. I had rushed to see if she was alright, but my sons had already beaten me too it. I was just outside the door, away from site, and watched as they went to comfort Lavinia. A few words were said, and then something happened that I did not expect. Lavinia had told the boys everything about her old father, even going so far as to tell them about the scar on her shoulder. Not long after that the boys had all ran to their rooms, coming back out with their blankets in pillows. I had stayed in the shadows, watching as three of my sons laid the blankets out so they were all connected, looking like a one large, colorful blanket. Michelangelo had come out with Lavinia, who had her eyes closed. My sons had surprised her with the display they made, explaining that they were all going to sleep together, all to make her feel better.

I had already been sincerely touched at this point, enjoying the way my sons appreciated their newest sibling. But I was not prepared for what came next. After they had all gotten on the pile of blankets, Lavinia had laid down in the center to go to sleep. Then Michelangelo wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her stomach.

"Don't worry Nia. We won't let that mean man get you."

Donatello then laid his head against her leg, holding her hand in his own.

"You'll never see him again."

I had been most surprised by Raphael's next action; he had wrapped his small arm under Lavinia's, holding onto her as though he were clutching for dear life.

"He'll never hurt yah. Never."

Leonardo had simply held her wrist in his hand, a smile on his face.

"You'll be safe with us, Nia. No matter what."

I now stand behind the couch, watching as my five children slept against one another, clinging to each other like they could never be separated. I sighed and smiled down at them all. _Children are such a blessing, _I thought to myself. _So happy, so innocent. Shame this only lasts for so long… _Then a small idea came to my head. I quickly but quietly went over to a shelf that was on a far wall of the living room. On one shelf, hidden by a few books, was a large, polaroid camera. I had found it some time ago in the sewers. My sons and daughter had had so much fun with it, taking as many silly photos as they could. I looked into the film, and saw it had enough for one picture. I turned my head, smiling at my five children. _I simply can't help myself, _I thought happily.

I slowly and quietly walked back to stand over the five, sleeping children. They were all still nuzzled together, sleeping soundly, dreaming whatever dreams that could come from their wonderful imaginations. I raised the camera, looking through it. My finger hovered over the button, hesitating for a moment. A moment like this was too precious to leave alone. It simply had to be saved. To remind my children that, when they grow older, that they were all innocent and purely happy once.

I pushed the button, the camera flashed, and the precious moment of my five children sleeping together was then forever saved.

* * *

**That's it! That's the end of the prologue! Next time you see me, I'll be posted the stuff that takes place during the actual season! Yay! Ok, listen, i gotta go right now, but i'll c you bros later. Promise! Please leave me some reviews people! It really motivates me to write more when you tell me how much you like my stories. Bye loves!**


	6. Rise of the Ninjas: Part 1

**Oh... My... God! This chapter took soooo long to write! But, I think it was worth it. But, I'll let you be the judge of that!**

* * *

Ch. 1  
Rise of the Ninjas: Part 1

Ah, training. One of the more interesting times of the day. It's also the only time of the day that my brothers are actually allowed to throw a few punches at each other without getting in trouble. I don't mind, though. They never mean to hurt each other, anyway. Besides, they're boys, and boys love to wrestle even if they aren't ninjas. And anyway, I can usually pull them apart before things get out of hand. Because if I don't, Sensei surly will. But, back to the training…

I was currently sitting on the sideline, watching as my brothers prepared to fight. With there being an uneven number of us, this was a usual routine that happened here; the guys fought, and I waited for one to get out so I could replace them. Raph and Donnie were on one side, kneeling in front of each other, waiting to fight. Leo and Mikey were on the other side of the room, both kneeling down on one knee, staring intently at each other. _This might take a while, _I thought to myself. I took out two hair ties from my pocket and did my hair in my usual style; two low ponytails that hung over my shoulders.

Suddenly the two jumped to their feet. Leo held his katana in front of him, and Mikey withdrew his nunchucks from his belt, tucking the ends of each pair under his arms. Their eyes narrowed as they stared at each other, each one daring the other to go first. It must've worked, because after a few seconds Leo raised his katana and ran forward, letting out a battle cry. But as soon as he did, Mikey's glare turned into a playful smirk.

"Oh yeah! Michelangelo's on the move!"

Mikey charged forward as well, twirling both pairs of nunchucks. They both met halfway, and Leo swung where Mikey was. But Mikey was too quick for him, and dodged, jumping over Leo and landing behind him. Leo glared as Mikey swung his nunchucks, busting some fancy moves.

"You don't know what to do!"

I let out a small giggle. _Too slow, Leo. _Said turtle charged forward and gave another swing, and another, but still, Mikey dodged the strikes.

"I'm here! I'm there!" Mikey smirked as he landed on the ground, now down on his knee. "I could be _anywhere_!"

Suddenly his eyes went white and wide, and he quickly dodged another hard strike from our older brother. Leo turned to face him, and I could've sworn I saw him smirk. _What's he up to…?_

"How do you stop what you can't even see?" Mikey taunted, dancing around a bit before taking a stance.

Leo took a stance as well, holding his sword at his side. Mikey raised his nunchucks in the air as he ran forward, ready to strike. He was only a foot away from his target when Leo suddenly flipped his sword, and brought the end forward. Hard. The handle of the katana delivered a hard blow to Mikey's stomach, smacking against his plastron. I hissed, wincing slightly. _That'll knock the wind out of you. _Sure enough, Mikey dropped his nunchucks, somersaulted around Leo, and stopped in a kneeling position. He let out a painful gasp, and fell down on his side.

"Like that?" Leo asked.

"G…Good one, Leo…" Mikey choked.

Leo raised his brow, staring down at his little brother. Mikey rolled off of his shell and started to crawl towards me, a look of agony on his face, and he reached out for me.

"Tag in, Nia!" he coughed, though it sounded a little more dramatic now. "Tag in! Avenge me…!"

He let out a sickly groan as his head fell to the floor, his hand still raised towards me. I rolled my eyes. _Oh, my little Drama Queen… _I lifted my hand up and patted his lightly.

"I shall avenge you, dear brother."

I stood up from my spot and jumped up to Mikey's former place. Leo looked at me for a moment, then a small grin grew on his face.

"Come on, Nia. You know how this is gonna end," he told me. "You could just back out now, if you want."

I chuckled. "You say that like I'm gonna listen to you."

I bent over and reached down to the small strap on my right leg that held my tessen. I pulled it out and quickly opened it, taking a defensive stance. Leo's grin turned into a smirk and he took a stance, holding his katana out towards me.

"Nia, don't make me force you," he sang sweetly. "You can still back down."

Now, I don't know why he always talks like this when he's training with me, but I don't mind. It's kind of fun when he does. Besides, I know he doesn't mean it. Leo _loves _training.

"Now, where's the fun in that?" I asked.

Leo chuckled slightly, turning to fully face me, holding his katana near him in a stance. We stood there for a few moments, keeping our eyes locked. I decided I didn't want him to charge first, so I quickly darted forward, my arms at my sides. Leo charged at the same time as me, and like he did with Mikey, he met me halfway. But just as it looked like I was about to strike, I spun to my right and moved out of the way. Leo turned his head to look up at me just as I lifted my left leg up and attempted to kick his shell. But he turned and raised his left arm up and blocked it. I swung my right hand down to strike with my tessen, and he blocked it with his katana. He gave a powerful shove that caused me to stumble back several feet, but I steadied myself quickly.

Leo charge up to me, raising his katana in the air, ready to strike. I ducked down in time and lifted my hand up to grab his wrist. I closed my tessen, reared my arm back, and swung forward, delivering a hard blow to Leo's lower stomach. He hunched over slightly, giving a gruff groan. I pushed his arm out of the way and stood up, whipped around and swung my leg up, striking him in the shoulder. He took a few steps back, holding his katana up across is face, ready to block. I tossed my tessen forward and a loud _clang _sounded as the two metal weapons connected. While Leo was distracted with blocking my weapon I charged forward until I was in front of him. I kneeled down, spun around, and kicked his legs, knocking him down. Leo made a noise of surprise as he fell flat on his shell on the floor, and his katana fell out of his hand. I swiped up my tessen from the floor and before Leo could even sit up I jumped up and placed my foot on his chest. I raised my tessen up and pointed it towards his face.

"You give?" I asked, trying desperately to keep myself from laughing at the dumbfounded look on Leo's face.

He blinked at the tessen, then up at me. Then he grinned slightly and gave a small shrug.

"Alright, I can take a hint."

I nodded, moving my foot off of his plastron. "Good boy."

_Man, this is awesome! I haven't beaten Leo in weeks!_

"Ooh, you got knocked out!" Mikey jeered.

I giggled. "C'mon Mikey, leave the poor boy alone."

I leaned to the side and placed a hand on my hip as Leo slowly got up to his feet, picking his katana off the floor. He walked over to sit next to Mikey on the other side of the room and I turned to look at my other two brothers.

Donnie, who was now on his feet, did a few cool moves with his staff, spinning it to the sides and above his head. Say what you will about a Bo staff, but Donnie sure knew how to make good use of one. Donnie stopped spinning the staff around him and took a stance, pointing the staff at Raph. Raph stood still, an almost bored expression on his face. He bent his head from right to left, making a loud cracking sound, and shook his head slightly.

"Alright Donnie, put down the staff and no one gets hurt."

"Ah, you said that last time Raph, and then you hurt me!"

"Yeah, but… less than I would have."

"Yeah, right!"

Donnie ran forward and swung his staff down at Raph. But said turtle had just managed to roll out of the way, even dodging another strike from the Bo staff. Donnie spun the staff at his side and then struck forward, making a loud _howa_-like sound as he nearly hit Raph in the throat. Raph leaned back just enough for the blow to miss. Donnie brought the staff back, spinning it above his head and making another sound as he brought it down. Raph moved to his right and dodged the strike, and he did a few flips to land back in front of Donnie. Don spun the staff, turned while spinning it behind his back, and did a full circle while keeping the weapon in motion. He spun the weapon above his head and swung it down at Raph, who dodged it once more.

_C'mon Raph, quit toying with him, _I thought to myself. Donnie stood back for a couple seconds, a determined look on his face. He swung the staff out, spun it above his head as he walked forward, and made a loud "heeyah!" sound as he swung his staff down in an effort to strike. I say 'effort' because he didn't hit anything. Reason being; Raph had managed to take it out of his hands. Donnie looked down at his hands, gasped slightly, and looked up. Raph was leaning against the Bo staff, an almost evil grin plastered on his face. He spun the staff for a second before bringing the weapon down against his knee, snapping it in two. He held the two pieces up, his grin now larger. Donnie blinked, looking a little scared.

"…Should've dropped the staff?"

"Should've dropped the staff."

Raph spun the two pieces of wood in his hands before charging forward. Donnie stepped back a few feet before turning and bending over, covering his head with his hands. Raph showed no mercy and started beating against Donnie's shell with the wood of the broken staff.

"Okay, okay- _Ow! _I'm down!"

I rolled my eyes. _Alright, that's it. _I stepped forward towards the two and cleared my throat loudly. Raph stopped hitting Donnie and turned his head to look at me. His smirk turned into a small grin as he turned to face me completely, dropping the pieces of wood on the ground.

"Well, look who's come to save the day," he teased.

I gave a small "hm," sound. Donnie looked up at me, and I nodded to the side of the room where Leo and Raph were sitting. He nodded, and slowly got to his feet and walked over to the spot. From the corner of my eye I saw Mikey stick his tongue out playfully at Donnie, who simply glared back at our younger brother. I slowly took a few steps towards Raph, and he took a few steps towards me. We stopped when we were a few feet away from each other and looked at one another.

"You plan on beating me with that?" Raph asked, nodding at my tessen.

"I could," I told him. "But, not today."

Believe it or not, I didn't always train with my tessen when I was training with Raphael. Why? Because when I trained with him I needed something that was a little more sturdy. See, this is my situation; sometimes, the other guys went a little easy on me when we trained. I didn't really understand why. I wasn't sure whether it was because I was their sister or because I was a girl, or it could be both! Either way, I didn't really like it. I didn't want to be treated easily. I wanted to train with the guys the same way they trained with each other; without worry and without complaints. I liked being treated like an equal. The only one who understood my opinion was Raph. He understood that I didn't want to be treated like a punching bag, but I didn't want to be treated like an amateur, either. He didn't try to pummel me when I trained with him, but he didn't go easy on me either. He treated me like an equal, and that's how I liked it.

I closed up my tessen and slipped it back into the holster on my leg. As I was still bent over, I reached behind me and grabbed onto the wooden ends of my kamas, which were both placed in my belt-loops. I slipped them out of their loops and brought them out into the open, spinning them a bit before holding them out in front of me. Raph let out a dry chuckle as he pulled his sais out of his belt.

"You get hurt," he said. "I take no responsibility."

But even as he smirked at me, I knew that that was just his way of saying, "good luck." And that's just how he was during training. See, all the boys have different ideas on what training really is. To Mikey, it was a fun and exciting game. To Donnie, it was a new experiment that told him how to get better. To Leo, it was an everyday way of life. To Raph, it was always a competition. Always.

"Whatever you say, Raphie."

I took a step back and got into a defensive stance, holding my kamas out. Raph spun his sais a bit, holding them out towards me. We stood there and stared for a few moments. _Okay… now!_ I charged up to Raph, kamas held in the air, and I struck down at him. Raph held his sais up in time and blocked it. I held my kamas in place, pushing them down as hard as I could. Raph pushed me off and I ducked as he swung his right sai at me. I looked up at him, kamas held at the ready; one at my side, the other by my face. Raph held his sais up, made a loud noise that sounded like a battle cry, and charged at me. I stood up and swung both of my kamas around me so that they came down towards Raph. He used his right fist to push both of my arms to the side and raised his left sai up. I spun out of the way to my left, causing Raph to move forward. He did a somersault and landed in a stance on his knee. I charged at him, both of my kamas raised in the air. I jumped up and attempted to strike him from above, but he turned in time and blocked me with his sais. I forced his arms to the side, and I knocked one of his sais out of his hands. He used what ever force he had, and used his remaining sai to knock the kama from my left hand away from me. It headed straight for the others, but Leo quickly caught it in his hand. I took a few steps back, trying to regain a little of my breath. _This is it… here it comes… _Me and Raph stared at each other for a few more seconds before we charged, both of us letting out loud battle cries. We both met each other half way, and raised our weapons.

I knew it was hopeless the second I heard the loud _clang _of metal against metal. A second after our weapons met, my kama was somehow knocked out of my hand, and thudded to the floor. Before I knew what was happening Raph caught my wrist between the short blade and the long blade of his sai. He grabbed a hold of my arm and used the sai that had my wrist and used it to pull me down. Really hard. This caused me to flip over his shoulder and land with a loud _ka-thump _onto the floor. I moaned slightly as I felt the wind get knocked out of me. A small twitch of pain was present in my wrist, and I grasped it gently.

"Okay… that hurt…" I moaned, squinting my eyes shut.

"Nice try, Nia."

I opened my eyes and looked up at Raph, and he had a smug, victorious smirk on his face. Then he lowered his hand down towards me. I grinned slightly as I reached up and gasped his hand. Raph gave a huge tug and pulled me up to my feet.

"Thanks," I said as I blushed myself off.

"I'm surprised," said Raph. "You haven't beaten Leo in a while. Figured he might beat you again."

I gave a hearty laugh as I walked over to where my kama lay on the floor and bent over to pick it up.

"You underestimate me, Raphael," I said, slipping the kama back into my belt loop. "It's only been a week or two since the last time I beat Leo."

"Two weeks and three days to be exact," Donnie stated.

"Exactly," Raph folded his arms. "That's longer than last time, Nia. You're not starting to slack off, are you?"

I made a slightly irritated noise as I retrieved my other kama from Leo, but it wasn't serious. I turned to look at Raph, smirking slightly as I raised my weapon up to him.

"Now, do I really looked like a slacker to you, Raph?"

Raph, still smirking at me, opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as another voice spoke up.

"Yame!"

_Ah, there's our Sensei now. _I placed my other kama in my belt loop as the others got into a line, kneeling down in the middle of the room. I walked over and sat by Raph, and Leo sat next to me. Snesei made his way over to us, one hand by his side, the other holding a large cane. As he walked passed us Leo bowed so low that his head nearly touched the ground. _Aw, such a cute teacher's pet. _Sensei passed by me, and rather than bowing my whole body to the ground like Leo, I gave a small, but respectable bow of my head.

"You all did very well," he told us.

"But I did better," said Raph.

I blinked and turned to stare at him. _Not this again._

"Raph, watch it…" I whispered warningly.

"This is about self-improvement, Raphael," said Splinter. "It is not about winning and losing."

"I know, Sensei. But, I won and… they lost."

_Here it comes… _Not even a second later Sensei reached down and pressed his finger to Raph's neck. Raph let out a painful yelp as his pressure point was hit, and I winched slightly.

"But! What's really important is that we all did our best! Good job everyone!"

Sensei released his hold, and Raph fell to the ground, gasping. I heard Sensei give a small chuckled from behind me, and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing.

"With all due respect," I whispered to Raph as he sat up, rubbing his neck. "But, I _did_ warn you."

* * *

Lunch came and went just like it usually did. Sensei and the boys ate their worms and algae while I ate my usual bowl of rice. Our meals were still a little entertaining these days, because the boys still acted the way they used to when they ate; Leo ate without complaints, Raph stabbed the food with his chopsticks, Donnie hacked in disgust, and Mikey ate all of his stuff and finished before everyone else did.

"There's a little more algae and worms left if anyone wants it," Mikey held the huge pot out towards us, as though he were trying to tempt us to take it. "Anybody? _Anybody?_"

"No thanks."

"I'm good."

"All yours."

Mikey raised his brows at them, and I giggled slightly.

"Well, I guess no one left room for…cake!"

I snapped my head up. _What? Cake?! _Then Mikey pulled out from behind him a large, green and blue cake with a single candle stuck in the middle.

"No way!" I said, leaning over the table to hook closer at the dish.

"It _is_ a cake!" said Donnie, sounding just as surprised.

Raph then stuck his finger out, scrapped a bit of stuff off of the cake, and licked it.

"Made of…algae," a small pink object poked up from the top and crawled over the surface. "And worms…"

I slowly slumped back down into my seat in disappointment.

"Well, so much for that," I mumbled.

"What's the frosting made out of?" Leo asked.

"You don't wanna know," Mikey glanced around, then he beamed. "Happy Mutation Day!"

"Happy Mutation Day!" the boys all chorused.

"And!" Mikey put an arm around my shoulders. "Happy Birthday to our sista from another mista!"

I giggled, patting the green hand that was gripping my shoulder.

"Thanks Mikey. And as the only birthday girl here, I get to blow out the candle."

I leaned forward and closed my eyes for a second. Then I blew the tiny flame out.

"What did you wish for?" Donnie asked.

"A real cake," I leaned back and looked the cake up and down. "Hasn't happened yet. Well, Happy Mutation Day, you guys."

"Thanks, Nia," said Leo.

"Ah, yes," said Sensei. "15 years ago today our lives changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families."

"Tell us the story, Master Splinter!" Mikey begged.

"Michelangelo, I have already told it many times."

"Please! Pleas-"

But his begging was cut off as Raph suddenly slapped a hand over Mikey's mouth.

"Please," he said. "It's the only way to shut Mikey up."

Sensei sighed. "Very well… Many years ago, when I was still human, I was leaving the pet store with four baby turtles…"

"That was us!" Mikey piped up.

"Yes… Don't interrupt!" Sensei cleared his throat as Mikey sat back down. "I passed a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him… I decided to follow."

I rested my chin in my hand, listening closely. No matter how many times Sensei told this story, it was always so interesting to me. I listen as he told us everything; how he had followed the strange man to an alley, how he had given himself away by accidentally stepping on a rat's tail, and how the strange man- now accompanied by several others- had tried to attack Splinter. Emphasis on 'tried.' Master Splinter had managed to fight all of the strange men off, all while still holding the baby turtles. Unfortunately, during the fight, one of the men had dropped a strange canister filled with glowing green ooze. It had fallen to the ground, smashed open, and the ooze had gotten on Splinter and his pets, turning them into the people that were sitting with me today.

"That was the beginning of our life together," Splinter held the strange container up for us all to see. "It was the mysterious substance in the this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."

Mikey snatched the canister from Splinter and hugged it tightly. "Mom!"

I snorted slightly. _Not much of a family resemblance. _I cleared my throat and turned to look at Leo.

"Leo? Wasn't there something you wanted to ask?"

"Hm? Oh!" Leo grinned and looked over at Splinter. "So Sensei, now that we're 15, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface, don't you?"

We all turned to look at Sensei, and I could feel my hear begin to swell with hope like a balloon. Maybe this time, he'll let us go. And I'll be able to go up to surface after being down here for 7 years. _Please say yes, please say yes…_

"Yes."

I gasped as all of the boys cheered and punched their fists in the air.

"And no."

_Pop! _There went my balloon. I stared open-mouthed at Sensei as the guys lowered their fists, groaning in disappointment.

"I hate it when he does that," said Raph.

"You and me both," I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest.

"You have grown powerful, but you are still young," Sensei stood up form his seat. "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely."

"Not all of us," I muttered under my breath.

"You might be the most mature, Lavinia, but that does not mean you are prepared for what is out there."

I gulped as my face got slightly warm. _Dang it, he heard me._

"So Sensei," said Donnie. "Isn't that just… 'no?'"

"Yes… and no."

_What? Okay, now I'm confused._

"Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes."

Donnie grinned. "Ah-ha! So, in order to gain the wisdom we have to make the mistake, so we _can _go!"

"No."

"And…yes?" Donnie asked hopefully.

"No!"

Donnie reared his head back and groaned.

"Sensei," Leo started. "We know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here."

"He's right, Sensei," I piped up. "I mean, we're never gonna be able to know how to defend ourselves from the things up above if we never go there."

Sensei turned from us, stroking his thin beard. I turned to look at the boys and leaned in.

"Time to start begging, boys. Get your game faces on."

They all nodded. In less than a second we were on the floor, kneeling in front of our Sensei, clasping our hands together, and giving huge puppy-dog eyes. Sensei turned, and blinked in surprise when he saw us. He looked down at all the boys before looking down at us. He looked down at all the boys before looking down at me.

"Please, Sensei?" I begged in the sweetest voice I could muster.

Finally, Sensei sighed. "You may go. Tonight."

I gasped in delight and shouted as my brothers chorused, "YEAH," coupled with Mikey's signature, "BOOYAKASHA!"

"High-three!" Mikey shouted, raising his hand in the air.

We all accepted his call, and raised our hands to meet in our usual five-way high-three.

* * *

Music; one of my favorite past-time entertainments. I love listening to it, but I love playing it even more. Yeah, you heard me, I play music. Guitar, to be specific. When I was eleven, I found some old music books with different songs inside, and it was all for the guitar. All I had to do was look in the book and I was hitched. I desperately wanted to learn how to play the songs inside the book, but I didn't know anyone who could teach me. Or so I thought. Turns out Master Splinter could play guitar. He told me that he had a friend from his school days who taught him how to play. Sensei didn't really play anymore, but when he discovered my fascination for the instrument he was more than happy to teach me. He even had a nice, six-string acoustic guitar that he had kept hidden away in his room. I remember asking him why he still had it if he didn't really play it anymore.

"_I did not see the point in throwing away such a beautiful instrument," _he had told me.

And boy, it _was _beautiful. The soundboard and the headstock were a gorgeous color of sky blue, and the edges and sides were solid black. With the way the paint was designed it looked as though someone simply spray painted it, letting the colors fade into each other. The sound hole was painted black, making the six white strings stand out. And this thing could play just _beautifully_.

I was currently sitting on a set of stairs, just a few seats below Raph, who was reading a magazine. Leo was sitting on the floor in front of the TV watching an episode of 'Space Heroes.' I was simply playing my guitar. I wasn't playing loud enough to annoy Leo, but it was enough for everyone to still hear.

"Can you play louder?" Raph asked, not looking up from his magazine. "I can still hear Leo's dumb cartoon."

"Shh!" Leo hissed.

I rolled my eyes as I strummed a few notes. Leo could be such a fanboy sometimes. Well… maybe he is all the time…

"_Mr. Crankshaw, status report!"_

"_Status?! I'll give you the status! We're gonna blow up in two seconds!_

I leaned over a bit to look at the screen just in time to see Mr. Crankshaw get slapped by Captain Ryan.

"_Thank you, captain…"_

I raised my brow. Suddenly, Leo stood up from his spot and held his hand up. _Oh man, not again…_

"Gentleman, I have a bold and daring plan," he spoke in unison with Captain Ryan on the screen. "There's no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question!"

"_Aye, sir!"_

I smacked my hand over my mouth, my laughter coming out as loud snorts. No matter how many times Leo did this it was always so funny.

"You know this show is stupid, right?" said Raph.

Leo whipped his head around. "'Space Heroes' is a great show," he defended. "And Captain Ryan is a great hero. Someday, I'm gonna be just like him."

Raph finally looked up from his magazine. "Well, you do like to listen to yourself talk, so you're on your way."

I chuckled as Leo glared at him.

"Well… you don't complain when Nia takes the remote to watch 'Impractical Jokers!'" he said accusingly.

"Yeah, cause that show is actually funny!" Raph snapped. "Your show bores me to sleep."

Leo grumbled irritably and folded his arms. I giggled as I set my guitar down.

"Don't worry, Leo," I said as I started put my hair into two low ponytails. "Not every show can be worthy of everyone's attention."

"It's go time!"

I turned my head to see Mikey and Donnie standing there, big grins on their faces.

"C'mon, Nia!" Mikey ran up to me and shook my shoulders. "Put down the guitar and grab your gear! We gots to go!"

I laughed, excitement now filling me up. _This is gonna be epic!_

* * *

It took us only a few minutes for us all to gather up our weapons. I decided to change into my usual outfit; a green tank-top and a pair of black cargo shorts. I made sure to wear the new belt that Donnie had designed for me. It was solid black, real thick, and made with velcro. It wrapped around my entire waist and had two large loops on the front for me to put my kamas through horizontally. Rather than just leaving them exposed, I decided to wear my white, sleeveless, zip-up hoodie.

After we got our weapons we all waited for Sensei to give the 'okay.' We were all in a straight line, standing at attention.

"You are going up to a strange and hostile world," Sensei told us. "You must maintain awareness at all times."

"Hai, Sensei!" we all chorused, and we turned to leave.

"Stay in the shadows," Splinter added, and we snapped back into the line.

"Hai, Sensei!"

We turned to leave again, but…

"Don't talk to strangers."

Back to our spots again.

"Hai, Sensei," we said, less enthusiastic this time.

"Everyone is a stranger!" Sensei snapped before we could take more than one step.

_Okay, now he's just being an over-protective parent, _I thought.

"Hai, Sensei…" we all sighed, now sounding rather bored.

We all turned to leave for a fourth time, but we had only gone a few steps when Sensei spoke up again.

"Make sure you go before you leave! The restrooms up there are filthy!"

"_Sensei!" _we said exasperatedly.

Splinter sighed. "Good luck, my children."

I smiled as me and he guys let out exclamations of glee, and we finally sprinted through the exit.

"Look both ways before crossing the street!"

I rolled my eyes. _Geez, have a little faith, Sensei._

* * *

"It's beautiful…" Mikey breathed as we stood in the dark, abandoned alley.

_Okay, not the word I'd use, but… _Slowly but confidently, we all walked out of the alley and into the street. I was a little worried that some random person might see one of the guys, but it was late, and there was no one in sight. That in mind, I strode out into the middle of the street with a skip in my step and a smile on my face.

"This city is just full of possibility!" said Leo excitedly. "There could be an adventure around this corner…"

He peeked his head around the corner, but there was nothing there.

"Or this one…"

He peeked around the corner of a closed restaurant, but there was still nothing.

"Or this one!"

He looked into another dark alley, but there was nothing there but a dumpster with a cat on it. The cat meowed at us before walking off.

"There's not, but there _could _be!" Leo said happily.

I shook my head as I looked around at the others. Raph had his arms folded, examining the area. Mikey was having fun and doing some flips in the street. Donnie was walking on the sidewalk when he suddenly gasped, and he pressed his face and hands to the glass of a shop.

"Look at all the computers! Is that the next generation cadmium processor with quantum encryption?"

"I don't know, Donatello!" Raph said sarcastically. "Is it?"

Donnie looked back inside. "It is!"

I rolled my eyes. "Only someone like you could get this excited about electronics, Donnie."

He frowned slightly at me as I looked all over the place. My eyes glanced over across the street and a building caught my eye.

"Oh my God!"

I suddenly sprinted pass the boys and across the street towards the building. I slammed my face to the glass, my hands pressing against it as I gazed into the closed music store.

"Dude! Look at all this stuff! Half of these songs I've never even heard of," I squinted my eyes and peered inside more. "Oh God, that guitar back there is hot!"

From behind me I heard Donnie give a loud snort. "And you think I over react," he said.

"I can't help it!" I said. "The stuff in here is just beautiful…"

"Well, now we know what to get you for Christmas," said Raph, who was looking into the store from over my shoulder.

"Guys, guys! Check this out!"

We all turned to look at Mikey. He was gazing at a store's neon sign, which looked like an orange hand with a blue eye inside. Mikey, looking amazed by the sign, pressed his face to the glass.

"A hand made out of light…"

Suddenly the hand's light turned off, and the blue eye lit up. Mikey gasped.

"Now it's an eye made out of light!"

The hand lit up.

"And the hand again! Now the eye's back! Now the hand!"

"It's just a neon sign Mikey," I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen.

Raph walked up to Mikey, grabbed him by the tails of his orange mask, and pulled the younger turtle away from the glass and into the street.

"C'mon, genius."

"The eye…!"

I sighed as I followed the two into the street, where Donnie and Leo were now standing.

"So, where to next?" asked Donnie.

Before any of us could answer there was a loud purr of an engine, and we turned our heads to see the glow of headlights. A motorcycle pulled up in front of us, and there was a boy riding it. The boy stared at us, we stared back. It seemed we were all startled into silence. Then Raph raised his hands and growled at the human. The boy screamed and spun his cycle around, speeding away in a cloud of smoke, wheel squeaking. I sighed, placing my hands on my hips and turning to face my red-banded brother.

"Was that really necessary?" I said, sounding like an irritated mother.

"Nope, but it was fun," he said, smirking at me.

"We're too exposed out here," said Leo.

He turned and looked up at the buildings. The rooftops, to be specific. I had a feeling of what was going through his mind.

"C'mon!"

Leo ran to the buildings, and we all followed. I was about to go up the fire escape when I realized Mikey was still behind. I turned around and saw he was still standing in the street.

"Mikey! C'mon!"

"Coming!"

Mikey appeared to pick up a box-like thing and started running after us.

"Oh boys!" I called when me and Mikey met the others on the roof. "Mikey brought a gift."

"It fell off the dudes' bike," said Mikey as set the thin, white box on a block on the roof.

All the boys crowded around the box, looking down at it. I walked over and squeezed in between Mikey and Raph to look at the box too.

"Pizz-za…?" Mikey read slowly.

"Should we open it?" asked Donnie.

"Careful," Leo warned. "It could be dangerous."

I shrugged. "Well, YOLO."

I reached for it at the same time Raph did, and we both opened the box. A puff of steam emerged, releasing the most delicious smell I had ever experienced. We looked inside and saw there was a large circle with yellow stuff that looked like cheese, red stuff, tiny red circles, and it was cut into tiny red circles.

"I think it's…food," said Donnie.

"It's not like any food I ever saw," said Raph.

I sighed. "Okay, I take back my YOLO. Who wants to try it first?"

"I will," said Mikey.

He reached down and picked up one of the large slices. We all watched him, tension building as Mikey opened his mouth and then took a bite of the slice. His eyes went wide, and for a second I though he was going to spit the stuff out. He chewed a little more, gave a noise of satisfaction, and suddenly stuffed the entire pizzas slice in his mouth. My jaw fell open and I could feel the inside of my hand begin to water. Mikey swallowed his pizza and placed his hands on his plastron as he let out a loud burp. He blinked, saw we were all looking at him, and cleared his throat.

"Uh… Yuck!" he grimaced, but he wasn't fooling us. "You guys won't like it… I'll take the rest!"

"I don't think so!" I said as I grabbed his wrist.

The others were on my side, and grabbed a slice of pizza for themselves. I reached in and grabbed my own. I looked at it for a second before taking a bite. _Oh my God… it's amazing! _I thought as I munched on my bite.

"I never thought I'd taste anything better than worms and algae, but this is amazing!" said Raph.

"I love it up here!" Mikey shouted, throwing his hands up into the air.

* * *

Mikey was right. The surface was awesome! The whole city was like a gigantic playground; the buildings and rooftops were parts of a huge jungle gym, and me and the guys were the excited children playing on it. And our playing consisted of us racing each other across the rooftops of the buildings.

"Too fast for you, Don!" Raph shouted behind him to said brother.

"I'm coming for you, Nia!" I heard Mikey shout.

"C'mon, Leo!" I turned my head to look at the blue-banded turtle. "I'm way ahead of you. You gotta keep up!"

"Don't make me come up there!" he called back. "I swear, I will team up with Mikey and we'll both be after you!"

I laughed as I turned and continued running.

After a few minutes the race finally died down. I jumped over to the next building, ran across the roof, and slid over to the end, coming to a stop. One by one, the boys all did the same, sliding up beside me. We stood up and stared in front of us, taking in the sight of the city. I inhaled through my nose, and exhaled through my mouth. _Oh yeah, I could get used to this._

"Alright guys, it's getting late," said Leo. "We should probably head back home."

The guys all groaned, and I raised my eyebrow.

"Says who?"

"Says me. Beside, I'm the oldest."

I snorted. "Last I checked, we were all 15."

Leo rolled his eyes and turned to leave. We all turned to follow him when suddenly, Donnie gasped.

"Guys! Look at that!"

I turned and saw him pointing down at something. I walked back over and peered down into the street. There were two figures walking along the sidewalk; a tall, middle-aged man with a red beard, and a younger girl who was most likely his daughter. She also had red hair, and even from this distance I could tell she was very pretty.

"It's just a couple of humans, Don," I said, turning my head to look at him. "Nothing really…"

But my voice trailed off as I looked at Donnie's face. His eyes were white and wide, his jaw was hanging open, and I could've sworn I saw him drooling a little.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen…"

I blinked as I stared at him, my own mouth falling open. Donnie looked downright dreamy! I could almost see his heart thumping against his plastron.

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raph pointed out. "Besides, Nia?"

Donnie blinked, and turned to look at us. Then he frowned and stuck his nose in the air.

"My point still stands."

Raph looked like he was about to respond, but there was a sudden roar of an engine that made us all look down. A large, white van skidded to a halt in front of the family. _What the…? _Several men, all in black suits, came out of the van and advanced on the father and daughter. They both backed away, looking terrified.

"We gotta save them!" said Donnie.

I nodded. "I'm with you on that one!"

We both tried to move, but Leo put his hands on our shoulders.

"Splinter's instructions were very clear," he informed us. "We're suppose to stay away from people… and _bathrooms_!"

I raised my eyebrow. _He sounds more worried about the bathrooms than the people._

"I thought you wanted to be a hero," said Raph. "Since when do heroes ask for permission?"

"They don't, but-"

"Well, I'm going!" said Donnie, and he jumped off the building.

"We can't let him go alone," I told the others, and I jumped off, too.

By the time we were all on the ground the men in suits had tossed the father into the van.

"Hey!"

Raph then ran up to the guy and punched him in the gut, making the man slide back. After that all the boys went to different men and started fighting them. With one swift movement I reached down to my leg strap and retrieved my tessen, but I didn't open it up. _All I need to do is knock them out._ I raised my tessen and started running towards one of the strange men, but was pushed to the side as Donnie's shell bumped into me.

"Donnie?"

"Sorry, Nia!"

Donnie went back to his own fighting, and so did I. I ran up to one of the suit guys and swung the blunt end of my closed tessen to his face. It hit him right in his jaw and he stumbled back, but he continued to stand. He walked towards me and I charged at him. I jumped into the air and was about to strike from above when suddenly Leo came up and attempted to fight the man in the suit. I say 'attempted' because I ended up hitting him instead. I hit him on the upper part of his shell and this sent us both falling to the ground.

"Leo! What was that?"

But before he could answer the suit guy kicked me in my gut, sending me sliding and them rolling away. I stopped rolling and clutched my stomach.

"Okay… so you don't care about hitting girls…" I got up to my knees, tessen held tightly in my grasp. "That's fine with me."

I started running back towards the man that kicked me when I realized that Leo was still there, crouched down on the ground, looking like he was about to strike from below. Then I got an idea.

"Leo, stay down!"

Leo looked back at me, but before he could move I stepped up on his shell, jumped, and kicked the man in his face. He fell face first into the ground as I landed back on my feet.

"Nice call," Leo said, sounding impressed.

"Thanks."

Then I heard a scream. I turned around and saw that the men had finally gotten the girl into the van.

"They're getting away! They've got the girl!" Donnie shouted, running after the van.

I held my tessen tightly as I ran after him. Raph and Leo followed behind me.

"You just jabbed me with your swords!" Raph shouted.

"Well, I didn't know you were going to land were I was stabbing!" Leo retorted.

"Guys!" I snapped. "We can talk about how bad the fight was later! Right now we gotta find that van and get the family back!"

They both shut up, and we continued on.

* * *

We lost the van. It's sad, but true. We just couldn't catch up to it, and before we knew it, it was gone. Needless to say, Donnie was devastated.

"They got away," he said sadly. "We couldn't save them…"

"Don't worry, Donnie," I said, patting the back of his shell. "I'm sure we'll find them."

Donnie didn't say anything, but nodded in response.

"Hey, where's Mikey?" Leo asked.

No sooner had he asked this then there was a loud, nearby scream.

"Found him," said Raph.

Then, out of nowhere, Mikey appeared and ran up to us.

"Guys! Guys!" he shouted in our faces. "You're never gonna believe it! That dude…!" he pointed somewhere behind him. "He-he… had a brain!"

We all stood there in silence, staring at him. _Okay… weird…_

"We all have brains, Mikey," Leo said simply.

"Not all of us," Donnie added.

"In our _chests_?!" Mikey shouted again, putting his hands against his plastron.

"No Mikey, not in our chests," said Leo, and there was clear irritation in his voice this time.

Mikey stared at us as though we had all grown an extra head, and then he looked angry.

"_You're not listening to me!_"

_Slap!_ Leo had just slapped Mikey across the face. Mikey instantly snapped his head back, his arms coming up into a defensive position.

"…Did you just slap me?" he asked, deadpanned.

"Did you just _slap _him?" I snapped at Leo.

"I was calming him down," he informed me.

"_Why would that calm me down?!_"

"I think he's delusional," said Donnie.

I frowned up at him before I reached up and flicked him by his ear slit.

"Ow!"

"Be nice," I turned and walked up to Mikey. "Mikey, are you feeling okay? You're not getting sick, are you?"

I raised my hand to feel Mikey's forehead, but he grabbed my wrist.

"Just… just c'mere!" he turned and started to drag me away by my wrist. "I'm telling you, this dude was a robot, and he had a freaky weird alien brain thing in his chest!"

I didn't say anything as Mikey continued to drag me off. I turned to look back at the others, shrugging helplessly. Leo sighed, gestured to the other two, and they followed.

"You gotta believe me!" Mikey said desperately.

"I'm not sure we do," said Raph.

"Oh yeah?"

Mikey finally let go of my wrist. He took a few steps forward and pointed into an alley.

"Well, you'll changer your tune when you see that he's…" he turned his head towards the alley, then blinked. "Gone…?"

I turned my head to look into they alley, but it was completely empty.

"There's nothing there, Mikey," I said, turning to look at him.

Mikey looked from me to the others, a desperate look on his face. The other three shook their heads, turning and walking away. Mikey hunched over, looking defeated.

"It's okay, Mikey," I told him, rubbing the back of his shell. "We all make mistakes, no big deal. Besides, we got bigger things to worry about."

"Like what?"

"Like, how Master Splinter is gonna react to all of this."

* * *

"So your inability to work together allowed them to get away!"

I hung my head as I fiddled with my black kneepads. Sensei was really chewing us out about this.

"Well, if I have to wasted time arguing with _hero boy_," Raph glared at Leo. "I could've saved them!"

"Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, _I _could've done it!"

I sighed. This is why I sit between these two; _so that they wouldn't kill each other._

"And _you_ went flying off on your own!" Leo snapped at Donnie. "How smart was that?"

"Well, it would've worked out great if _somebody _hadn't hit me in the head with their _nunchucks_!"

Mikey hesitated for a second as we all looked at him.

"Well… none of this would've happened if…" he turned to his left, but there was nobody there. "…_somebody _didn't trust us to go up there in the first place!"

I gasped, horrified, and so did the others. We all turned to look at Splinter, who had stopped pacing.

"Oh, geez…" Mikey mumbled. "Sensei, I didn't mean to…"

"No, Michelangelo, you are right."

"I am?"

"He is?" we all asked(the boys out of surprised, me out of curiosity).

"You were not fully prepared for what was up there," Sensei continued to pace. "I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine. Perhaps, in another year, we can try again."

_What? No!  
_

"Wha- Another year?!" Donnie exclaimed. "Has everyone forgotten that people where kidnapped?! They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something _now_!"

Sensei narrowed his eyes, but Donnie held his ground.

"You weren't there, Sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared, and she was counting on me- _us_," he said quickly as we all looked at him. "To save her."

Sensei didn't respond. He turned to face the small bookshelf, and I had a feeling he was looking at the picture of his family. This wasn't the first time he had done this. Sometimes, usually after we were done training, I would peek into the dojo to find Sensei gazing at photo. He had told me once before that he had accepted the fact that they were gone- that he had made peace with it. But it was clear that he still missed them.

"Yes," Sensei turned back to us. "You must save her."

"I agree, Sensei," said Leo. "But in that fight, we weren't exactly a well oiled machine."

"Like that robot with the brain thingy!" Mikey piped up.

Raph groaned. "Give it a _rest_."

Sensei stroked his beard. "Hm… If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader."

_Oh boy, I know where this is going… _Leo then shot his hand up into the air.

"Can I be the leader?" he asked.

"Why should you get to be the leader?" Raph demanded, now leaning across from me to glare at Leo. "I've kicked your butt over a dozen times! _I _should be the leader."

"Hey, I'm smarter than all of you guys put together, it should be _me_!" Donnie said.

"No way! It should be _me_!" said Mikey.

We all blinked, staring at him with confusion. But Mikey just smiled at us.

"I don't really have a reason, I just think it would be me."

Sensei raised an eyebrow at Mikey, then he turned his gaze to me.

"Lavinia?" he asked. "Do you not have a desire to be leader as well?"

I shrugged. "Eh, not really," I admitted. "It doesn't seem like my kind of thing. Besides, I just go with the flow."

"You'd rather be a follower than a leader?" Leo asked, curiously.

"Yeah."

"Why?" asked Raph. "You'd _want_ to follow somebody instead of-"

"Raphael," Sensei caught Raph's attention. "There is no sense in being a leader if there is not one person willing to follow you."

Raph stared up at him for a few seconds. He looked over at me, glanced at the floor, and turned back to the front again.

"Hai, Sensei."

"This is a difficult decision," said Sensei, and he headed for his room. "I will meditate on it."

He walked into his room, and shut the door. Not even two seconds later he opened the door and poked his head out.

"It's Leonardo."

And he shut the door. _Well, that was quick…_

"No hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked.

Raph let out an angry growl before standing up and walking away.

"Just stick it in your shell!"

I sighed as I watched him stomp out of the room. Why did he have to stomp out every time he got mad.

"Don't worry, he'll calm down," I said, and I patted Leo's shell. "Congrats, Leo."

"Thanks, Nia."

* * *

I had no idea what Leo's first plan as leader would be, but a stakeout was not what I had expected.

"Explain to me one more time what we're doing here," Mikey whispered.

All the guys reared their heads back and let out irritated groans.

"Mikey, we've been over this," Leo said, his tone suggesting he was talking to a five year-old. "That building has the same logo as the van that was used to kidnap the family. So, if we wait here long enough, one of the kidnappers will eventually show his face. And when he does, we'll make him tell us where he took them."

"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey said, punching his fist into the air.

Leo face palmed himself. "Just hit the guy I tell you to!"

Mikey gave him the thumbs up. "Will do!"

Raph didn't look too convinced. "You sure this is gonna work?" he asked.

"Trust me," said Leo. "They'll be here any second."

"He means they _could_ be," I whispered to Raph.

"Yeah, no kiddin'," he looked at me. "You got your playing cards? This is probably gonna take a while."

* * *

Thank God I brought my cards along with me, because if not, me and Raph could've been terribly bored out of our minds. We spent our time on the roof playing games like 'Blackjack,' 'BS,' and 'Slap.' Donnie and Mikey just wandered about the roof, trying out various ways to occupy their time. But even then they were still bored, and after loosing at 'Slap' for the third time in a row, Raph had had enough.

"Do you want me to go easy on you?" I asked honestly as he threw his cards on the ground. "You know it's alright if I do."

"Nah, it's not that," he grumbled, and he turned his head to look at Leo. "How can he just stand there this whole time."

I shrugged. "No idea. I've known you guys for 7 years and you all still find ways to surprise me."

Raph huffed as he stood up. I sighed and scooped up all of my cards to put them back in the box as he stomped over towards Leo.

"Give it up already!" he groaned. "The guy's not gonna show up."

"We have to be patient," Leo said simply.

Raph shook his head. "No, _you _have to come up with a better plan. 'Cause the five of us here with our thumbs up our noses-"

"Gross," I muttered.

"I don't think they fit," Mikey pointed out, looking at his own thumbs.

"…is _pointless_!"

But as I looked over at Leo I saw a smirk had grown on his face.

"You sure about that, Raph?"

Raph's face fell. "He just showed up didn't he?"

We all looked down. The same white van from last night had just pulled up beside the building.

"I should've complained two hours ago," Raph mumbled irritably.

The door of the car opened and a man stepped out of the driver's side. It was a tall, scrawny-looking guy in jeans and a white tank-top. He didn't look like the clones from last night, but he was obviously working with them.

"Lady and gentlemen," Leo stated. "I have a bold and daring plan!"

I stared. _Really? You're gonna do this now?_

"There's no time for hesitation! My orders must be carried out without question."

Leo opened his eyes, but he stared when he saw that only I was standing next to him. While he had been ranting, the other three had already gone off.

"Guys? Guys, wait up!"

"Hey, at least I waited until you opened your eyes," I said, and I jumped down.

Within seconds we caught up with the others. We all surrounded the van slowly. The guy turned, and gasped when he saw us.

"Alright, buddy," said Raph. "We could do this the easy way, or- my vote- the _hard _way."

As he said this he withdrew his sais from his belt, and we all took out our weapons as well.

"We don't want any trouble," I said, and I opened my tessen. "But if you don't cooperate, we won't have any choice."

"Yeah, look at it logically; there're five of us, and one of you," Donnie chuckled. "What are you gonna do?"

The guy stood there for a moment. Then he drew out a strange looking gun and fired at us. We all yelped and jumped out of the way. I jumped and grabbed onto the railing of the fire escape, hanging there as I looked down. They guy grinned before jumping into his van and driving off.

"I was hoping he'd say 'nothing.'"

"You had to ask!" Raph snapped at Donnie.

We all jumped down from the fire escape and landed on the ground just as the van turned the corner.

"He's getting away again!" Donnie yelled.

"No, he's not," said Leo.

He then climbed up the nearest building to the rooftop, and we all followed close behind. We ran across the rooftops and jumped across buildings, keeping the van in our sights. Raph jumped down the fire escape and landed on the top of the van. He didn't stay on long though. Soon, the driver made a sharp turn, causing the van to swerve. Raph was thrown off and he smashed into the wall of a building.

"Raph!"

I jumped off the roof of the building, slid down the ladder of a fire escape, and ran over to him. Raph groaned as I grabbed him by the arms and helped him to his feet.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said gruffly.

I nodded. "C'mon, we gotta catch up to the others."

It took us only a few moments of running down the street for us to find the others. They were leaning against the wall of a building, obviously hiding.

"About time you two showed up," said Donnie.

"He got thrown into a building," I retorted.

"Shh!" Leo snapped.

I leaned forward a little and I could see smoke rising from the now wrecked van. It must've crashed while me and Raph were away. Leo kept his eyes on the van as he moved his arm back towards us, making weird hand signals with his hands. I didn't get the message though, and I stared in confusion.

"I- don't- know- what- that- means!" Raph hissed, making equally weird gestures with his hands on each word.

"Go around the back!" Leo said as though it were obvious.

"Why didn't he just say so?" Mikey wondered.

We did as Leo instructed, and surrounded the van We all moved cautiously towards the back of the vehicle, drawing our weapons, ready to fight if necessary. Empty boxes spilled out of the back. Raph reached up and opened the door that wasn't broken. When he did a large canister fell, rolled out on the street, and stopped directly at Mikey's feet.

It was a long, glass and metal canister filled with glowing, green ooze.

Mikey gasped. "_Mom?_"

* * *

**See? SUPER LONG! So, you know the drill. Please leave a comment and tell me your opinion. You know how I love your opinions. See yah next time!**


	7. Rise of the Ninjas: Part 2

**Hey guys! I got the next Ninja Turtles chapter for you. I hope you like it!**

* * *

Ch. 2  
Rise of the Ninjas: Part 2

"Whoa…" we all breathed in unison.

We all just stood there, staring in silence. None of us could really speak at first. All we could do was stare at the glowing canister as Donnie slowly picked it up in his hands. Leo was the to recover.

"So… is that the…?"

"Mutagen that turned us all into what we are now!" Donnie finished.

"Let's drink some!" said Mikey.

Donnie stared. "What?!"

"Mikey, are you crazy?" I asked.

"Why would you do that?" asked Raph.

Mikey grinned. "'Cause if you mutate a mutant, you get a _super mutant_!"

"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk," Donnie said shortly.

"Either way, it's an improvement," said Raph.

"Guys, this is _huge_!" Leo piped in. "Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us 15 years ago."

"How is that possible?" ask Donnie.

"With alien robots, anything is possible," said Mikey.

I sighed. "Oh boy…"

"Stop that!" Donnie snapped. "There are no such things as alien robots!"

I heard a small groan, and I turned to see the driver of the van crawling out. Mikey saw me looking and turned to look at the guy.

"Oh yeah?"

Looking surprisingly confident, Mikey walked over to the driver and stood by him.

"Well, if there's no such thing as alien robots," he grabbed the guys head. "How do you explain _this_?"

Mikey then grabbed the guys jaw and started to pull at it. Loud cracking and popping noises sounded as the guy yelled, and I could help but wince a little.

"Ugh! Man, this mask is glued on tight!" Mikey grunted.

"Mikey, stop!" Leo said quickly. "It's not a mask!"

"Please, Mikey," I added. "This is painful even for me to watch."

Mikey paused and looked at the guy's face for a moment. Then he tossed him aside.

"Okay. He's in the clear. But those other guys were totally alien robots!"

"Enough!"

Raph snatched the canister from Donnie's grasp, holding it in his hand. Then he stomped over to the man and grabbed him by his shirt.

"Time to get some answers! Who are you, and what's goin' on?"

The man glared up at Raph. "Name's Snake. And I got nothin' ta say ta you hideous freaks, or your pretty friend there."

Snake nodded his head towards me. Needless to say, I wasn't flattered.

"Well, that's 'cause yah don't know us yet," said Raph.

"We can be very persuasive," I said slyly. "But I can't promise that my bro here will be nice about it."

Raph looked at me, a sly smirk on his face. "You know me real well, Nia."

Raph then tossed Snake out towards Donnie and Mikey. They caught the guy by his arms, keeping him down. Raph and I strode over to Snake as Raph started to twist the top off of the canister.

"See, we were just regular guys," Raph took the cap off. "Until we got hit with a little'a this."

"Wh-What're yah doin'?" Snake stuttered.

"Playing a little game I like to call, 'Mutation Roulette.' Now, you could turn out handsome, like me. Or, you might end up disgusting and deformed! Like Mikey, here."

"Hey!" Mikey snapped.

Raph grinned evilly. "So… yah feel lucky?"

He raised the canister above Snake, and started to tip it over. The green ooze slowly started to seep out, getting closer and closer to Snake's face. Then, when the goo was only an inch away from his face, Snake cried out.

"Okay! Okay!" he yelled, and Raph leveled the canister. "They call themselves the Kraang! They've been grabbin' scientists from all over the city!"

I folded my arms. _Well, at least we got him talking._

"Well, that worked pretty good," said Leo.

"Of course it did," said Raph. "Would you wanna look like Mikey?"

"I'm right here…" Mikey mumbled.

I rolled my eyes, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're adorable, Mikey. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Mikey grinned up at me.

"What do they want with scientists?" Leo asked Snake.

"I don't know."

Clearly that wasn't the answer they wanted. Raph lifted the canister up, shaking it threateningly.

"All I know is they're takin' them out of the city tonight!" Snake said quickly. "But I don't know where!"

I folded my arms and bent over to look at Snake's face. See, I had this thing where I could look somebody in the eye and know whether or not they were lying to me. Sensei called it another gift of my kunoichi training, I called it an awesome sixth sense. Either way, it was super helpful. And as long as I've had this gift, I've never been wrong.

Snake stared back at me questioningly as I looked at him, but he didn't say anything.

"…He's telling the truth," I told the others.

"This is _awesome_!" Donnie exclaimed suddenly, and I lifted my head to look at him. "That girl's dad is a scientist! _I'm _a scientist! _Oh, she is so gonna like me_!"

"I don't think you're her type," Snake said bluntly.

I made an irritated noise. _That's it. I officially hate this guy! _We all crowded around Snake, staring down at him.

"Where are they now?" Leo asked.

* * *

It didn't take us long to find the facility Snake had told us about. We were all standing on the roof of a building opposite where the Kraang where. While we were there, Mikey was given the job of guarding Snake. He took the role just a little too seriously. Every time Snake even flinched Mikey would draw out his nunchucks, busting out some moves, trying to seem threatening. Though, to me, he looked like he was just being silly.

I was standing at the ledge next to Leo, who was looking down at the facility with a telescope.

"Is it bad?" I asked him.

Leo removed the telescope form his face and handed it to me.

"See for yourself."

I took the telescope and put it up to my face. I looked all around the area, seeing Kraang all over the place.

"There's gotta be like…20 of them down there," said Leo.

"Yeah," Donnie agreed. "And that's just the one's we can see."

I removed the telescope from my face. "He's right," I said as I handed the scope back to Leo. "There's bound to be way more inside, and God knows how many."

"Alright!" Raph withdrew his sais, twirling them in his hands. "An all you can beat buffet!"

"We can't just rush in there!" Leo cut across him. "We need a plan."

"Why?"

"Think, you shellbrain!" Donnie snapped. "There are innocent lives at stake! If we screw this up they're all goners!"

"Then we won't screw it up," Raph said obviously.

"That's not the point, Raph," I said seriously. "We need to make sure that there's a way for us and the family to all get out of there. Alive!"

"Boy, I sure could got for some of that pizza right now, huh?"

I blinked, and we all turned to stare at Mikey. He stared back, looking confused.

"What? I can't be the only one that's hungry."

"Now's not the time to be thinking with your stomach, Mikey," I told him.

"Wait… Where's Snake?" Leo asked slowly.

Mikey gasped. We all turned around to look at the spot where Snake had been. Said person was now running across the roof.

"Oh, geez…"

"Get him!" Leo shouted.

We sprinted. I quickly followed all of the boys as they went down he fire escape. By the time my feet hit the ground Snake was already gone, and the boys went different ways. I made a quick choice and followed Raph and Leo one way, while Mikey and Donnie went the other way.

I had managed to catch up to Leo and Raph, and I was now leading them away. We were just passing an alley when suddenly, I heard movement. It was small, but it was enough for me to hear. I inhaled sharply and stopped running, holding my arms out.

"Wait!" I hissed.

Both of the boys stopped, not moving an inch past me.

"What is it?" Raph whispered.

"Shhh…"

I pointed a thumb to the dark alley where the noise had come from. Raph glanced over at the alley, then looked at me and nodded. I turned to Leo, giving him a look that said 'what now?' Leo grinned slightly.

"Oh, great! We let him get away!" Leo said loudly, and very obviously.

"Whoa, whoa, you're the leader!" Raph said, grinning. "That means, _you_ let him get away!"

"You're not helping," Leo hissed.

"I'm not trying to help."

"Now now, boys!" I said loudly, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "There's no point in fighting over this! We have to come up with a plan! Leo?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. You want me to lead? Fine," he raised his voice once more. "We go back to the lair, gear up, and at midnight we drive Snake's van right up to the gate! They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in!"

"And then we bust some heads?" asked Raph.

"And then we bust some heads," Leo agreed.

Raph grinned. "I _love_ a happy ending!"

"So do I, Raph!" I said. "So do I!"

Keeping my hands on their shoulders, we turned and started to walk away.

"Do you think he bought it?" I whispered.

"Definitely," said Leo.

"Don't worry, Nia," Raph placed his hand on my back. "We got this sucker right were we want him."

* * *

The only part of Leo's "plan" that was true was that we did go back to the lair. Once there, we all kind of went our separate ways. Donnie went off into his lab to work on something that was, as he told us, "important if our mission was to succeed." Leo had gone off into the dojo to think of a good strategy for getting into the facility. Mikey was… well, I didn't know where he was or what he was doing. He could've been taking a nap for all I knew, and he probably was. Raph had just gone into the kitchen without really saying a word. Since I didn't really have anything to do, I figured I'd go see what he was doing.

I was standing outside the curtains that covered the kitchen when I heard his voice. I didn't know what he was saying at first, his voice was too quiet. I took a few steps forward and peeking through the curtains. Raph was leaning against the counter by the stove. In front of him was his pet turtle, Spike.

"I know you're a little worried about me. Look, I'm not gonna like to you. We've never gone into a fight like this and… I don't know what's gonna happen," Raph straightened up. "But you don't have to worry. I _will _make it back… I love you man…"

Spike took a bite out of his leaf, munching on it while he stared up at Raph. I giggled as I stepped out from behind the curtains.

"Aw, ain't that sweet?"

Raph gasped and whipped his head around. When he saw it was me he settled down, and frowned at me.

"Not cool, Nia."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said sweetly as I walked over to him. "You want me to leave so you love birds can keep building your nest in peace?"

Raph folded his arms, mumbling irritably. I chuckled as I placed my elbow on the counter, leaning my head in my hand.

"You're not funny," he grumbled.

"Oh, quit being a baby! There's nothing wrong with talking to your pet," I used two fingers to pet Spike's head. "Ain't that right, Spike?"

Spike looked up at me as I continued to pet him, and he appeared to be smiling.

"Aww…"

Me and Raph turned our heads. Mikey was sitting at the table, a sly grin on his face.

"Are you and Nia talking to your pet turtle?" he asked Raph.

Raph glared. "No… Shut up!"

Mikey's grin grew wider. "That _adorable_!"

"Oh, I'm gonna _crush you_!"

Mikey wasted no time before jumping out of his seat and sprinting away. Raph grabbed a wooden spoon, jumped over the table, and charged after his bro.

"I'm gonna slap you!"

"Ahh!"

I sighed and looked down at Spike. "What am I gonna do with those two?"

Again, the only response I got was Spike taking another bite out of his leaf. I shrugged, then reached out and picked the turtle up, letting him curl up in my arms. Unlike with the others, Raph trusted me and allowed me to hold his pet. I think it's mostly because a couple years ago, not long after Raph found him, I helped nurture Spike back to health when he got sic. Raph had trusted me with him ever since.

Still holding and petting Spike, I slowly walked into the dojo. Leo was kneeling in the middle of the floor, a few random object formed into shapes in front of him.

"What's up?"

Leo looked up at me for a moment, then looked back down. "I'm just trying to come up with a plan."

"Thought of anything good?"

"I think so…" Leo stared at his structure for a moment, then grinned. "I think this plan is gonna work."

"No plan ever survives contact with the enemy," said Splinter, who had just walked up to us. "It is how you react to the unexpected that will determine if you and your sibling succeed."

Leo stood up. "Sensei, do you think I'm ready for this?"

I turned to look at Leo confusingly. _He's not doubting himself, is he? _Sensei seemed to sense this, because eh put a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Leonardo, I made you leader for a reason."

"What is that reason?" Leo asked.

"That is for you to discover on your own."

"There's so much riding on this… What if something goes wrong?"

"Failure is a possibility that every leader must face, Leonardo," Splinter paused. "It is something I had to face in Japan, during my final battle with my enemy, the Shredder."

I froze as my breath caught in my throat. This was a story that we had all heard once before.

"Years ago, Oroku Saki, as Shredder was called then, had been my friend. But the love of a woman came between us. He could not accept it, and his jealously turned outward in a vengeful attack. And while he could not defeat me that day, my world fell and crumbled around me… as the battle took the life of my beloved Tang Shen… And I lost my baby daughter, Miwa…"

Sensei leaned against the bookshelf that held the photo of his family, his eyes closed. Spike started chewing on the strings of my hoodie, but I ignored him. All I could do was clutch the pet turtle in my arms as I thought about Sensei's sad tale.

"But that's my point, Sensei," Leo said, his voice filled with worry. "You lost everything…"

"I lost many things. My family, my home… my name…"

Leo turned his head away, not looking very assured.

"But I gains many things as well, like the four of you," Sensei smiled. "And years later, I also gained Lavinia, and I could not ask for better children."

Feeling comforted by his words, I smiled up at Sensei. I turned to Leo, and he had a confident grin on his face.

"Don't worry," he said. "We can handle this."

But at that moment we all heard Mikey yelling. I turned in time to see him running past, a pot on his head. Raph was following close behind, still waving a wooden spoon.

"Get back here!" he yelled.

Leo groaned slightly, and Sensei shook his head.

"Hang on," I sighed. "I got this."

I reached down and yanked the string Spike was gnawing on out of his mouth. Then I shoved the little turtle into Leo's arms.

"Don't let Raph see you holding Spike," I warned, and before he could say anything I ran off. "Raph, c'mon! Give Mikey a break!"

* * *

Leo's genius plan was to rig Snake's van so that it would drive up to the building by itself. It would crash into the building, and when the Kraang were distracted we would climb up the wall of the building using the project Donnie had been working on. Turns out he was working on a bunch of Shoku. Otherwise known as ninja climbing claws.

We all waited in the shadows for the van to show up. It did, and as planned, it crashed into the building. All the Kraang who were standing outside scattered. While they were distracted we ran up to the wall and started to climb.

"Dude, these things are awesome!" I told Donnie.

"Thanks!"

"Wow, lucky thing that van showed up to distract them," said Mikey.

Donnie's face fell as he groaned, and then face palmed. Only, he was still wearing his climbing claw.

"Ow!"

"That was the plan, Mikey!" Leo whispered. "We knew Snake was hiding in the alley, so Raph, Nia and I made him think we would be in the van."

Mikey still looked confused. "But, we weren't in the van…"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Just keep climbing!"

"Can do!"

We were able to get all the way to the roof without any issues. Once there we pried off the cover of a ventilation shaft, which led right into the building. There were two Kraang dudes right underneath. Leo and Raph both jumped down and pounded the guys into the ground. After the guys were knocked out, me, Mikey and Donnie all jumped down. One look around the place, and I instantly felt like I was in a Si-Fi movie or something. The walls were made of silver metal, and there were glowing pink energy lines and lights everywhere.

"Wow," Donnie breathed. "I've never seen anything like this! They're using a metal alloy that… I don't even recognize!"

"Gosh! A metal alloy that even _you_ don't know about!" Raph said sarcastically. "It boggles the mind!"

Donnie glared at him. "Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it."

"I don't. And-"

"You're really gonna have this argument now?" I hissed at them.

"Guys!" Leo snapped. "What part of 'being in an enemy lair' do you not understand?"

Leo turned and continued on. We all followed without complaints. As we turned the corner we stayed against the wall. We all leaned our heads out slightly to see if anything was there. I gasped slightly. There weren't any humans standing there. Instead there were several silver and several blue robots.

"No way…" I breathed.

"Whoa, alien robots!" Donnie whispered.

"Alien robots, huh?" Mikey muttered, irritation clear in his voice. "Hm… Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah! I've been saying it FOR HOURS!"

I winced slightly at his loud voice, but the sound of gunfire made me stand up. We all scattered, trying not to get hit. I took my tessen out as Raph jumped next to me.

"Hey, Raph!" I shouted. "You know what this means?"

"What?"

I grinned as I opened my tessen. "Since they're robots, you can stab them all you want."

He blinked, and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Heck yeah!"

I ran up towards the robot nearest me and brought my tessen down on the arm that was holding the gun. I kicked the robot in its chest, sending it flying backwards. I turned as two blue robots started firing at me. My eyes narrowed. I threw my tessen as hard as I could, and it embedded itself in the head of one of the robots. Sparks flew out as the robot thudded to the floor. I leapt forward, kicking my leg out so it would meet with the robot's face. I pinned the robot to the ground, grabbed my tessen from the previous robots head, and sliced it through the other one's face.

I stood up and turned. My bros had taken care of the other robots. Leo just sliced the last one with his katana. We all slowly surrounded the downed robot. Suddenly, the pink, brain-looking thing in the center of the robot's chest shifted. Then a pair of yellow eyes opened. Several long tentacles shot up and started wiggling in the air. We all screamed as the brain pulled itself out of the robot body, screeching at us. I yelped as I grabbed onto Leo's arm.

"What the bloody hell is that?!"

Suddenly Mikey came up, lifted his nunchuck, and smashed it against the little brain's head. The thing slumped over and closed its eyes. It was knocked out. I stared with wide eyes and Mikey grabbed the thing by its tentacles, lifting it into the air.

"See? _See? _It's a brain thing!" he yelled. "I told you! I _told _you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of _bonehead_!"

Before any of us could say anything, the brain thing suddenly reopened its eyes and let out a loud squeal. Then it reached up and latched its sharp teeth onto Mikey's arm.

"Ow!"

Mikey lifted his arm up as the brain thing gnawed on his arm. He shook his arm viciously, desperate for the creature to get off. Mikey thrashed his arm for just a few more seconds before the alien thing flew off and smashed against the wall. Unfortunately it also hit a large button on the wall, which caused a really big, really loud alarm to go off.

"_Mikey!" _the boys snapped.

Mikey turned to look a the four of us, and to see his three older brothers glaring at him.

"Okay! But I was still right about the brain thing!" he said defensively. "You gotta give me that!"

I turned to Leo. "Any ideas, chief?"

"Let's move!" he said.

"Move where?" said Raph.

I turned to look at Donnie, but he appeared to be looking up at the ceiling.

"I think those are power conduits," he said curiously.

"Oh! That's really interesting!" Raph snapped. "Thanks for sharing, Donnie!"

Donnie snapped his head to his older brother. "Meathead, the conduits are all converging _that _way…" he pointed down the hall. "Which means that whatever is happening in that direction is _important_!"

Donnie turned and walked down the hall. Leo grinned, then gestured down the hall with his katana, indicating that we were to follow. Leo started to walk off, and I cleared my throat.

"I think we better follow them," I muttered to Raph.

Just then Mikey came up and pointed at Raph's face.

"You got _spanked_," he said, and then laughed.

Raph glared at the younger turtle before grabbing the finger in a death grip.

"Ow! _Ow! Mercy!_" Mikey cried.

Raph released him, still looking irritated. He walked off as Mikey sucked on his finger.

"Not cool!"

"C'mon, Mikey," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We gotta move."

We instantly quickened our pace. I wasn't sure what we were heading for, but I was prepared for whatever we'd run into. We continued running until Donnie suddenly doubled back.

"We found them!" he called out.

"You pick the lock! We'll hold them off!" said Leo.

Donnie kneeled down next to a security lock as I ran up to the door. I looked through the tiny window and saw the redheaded family inside.

"Phew, that was lucky," I said.

"Oh, thank God," the girl sighed. "Another human."

"Yeah, don't worry," I told her. "Me and my bros are gonna get you both out of here. Are either of you hurt?"

"No, we're fine," the man said. "A little shaken, but fine."

"Good," I smiled. "I'm Nia, by the way."

The girl grinned. "Nice to meet you."

"Don't worry!" Donnie said. "We'll have you out of there in a second!"

"Okay… giant, lizard thing…" the girl said slowly.

I raised my eyebrow. "Really?"

"Turtle, actually. I'm Donatello."

"April," the girl said.

Donnie grinned. "Wow, that's a pretty-"

Suddenly Leo was thrown back against Donnie, causing said turtle to smash his face against the window of the cell.

"The _lock_, Donnie!" Leo snapped.

"Oh yeah! Right, sorry!"

He knelt back down, removed the cover of the lock system, and started messing with the wires. I turned around as a couple of Kraang started to come up. They started firing and I charged at them. I swung my tessen up at one of them, slicing some of the wiring in its neck section. Sparks shot out as I reared around and kicked the robot in the head, sending it flying back. Another robot came up and grabbed my wrist. I brought my elbow down on the crook of the robotic arm, elbowed the robots face, and kneed it in the chest. As it stumbled back I ran up to it and swung my tessen upward, slicing through the robot's face.

"Not to rush you, but… hurry up!" said April.

"Hey! You think it's easy trying to pick a lock with _these _hands?" Donnie said, waving his hands up.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

At that moment Raph came up and kicked away a Kraang that was heading for us. Then he stalked over to Donnie.

"Oh, for the love 'a… Get out of my way!"

Raph grabbed Donnie and shoved him away. I stared at him as he took one of his sais and started stabbing the lock repeatedly. After a moment the cell door finally opened. We looked inside and saw that a door on the other side was opened too, and the family was being dragged off once again.

"Are you kidding me?" I said irritably.

We all ran through the cell and turned the corner following the robots as they took the family to an exit. We all burst through the double doors.

"Get the door!" said Leo.

Raph went to shut the door just as a robot came up and tried to shove its way through. It reached out for Raph, who backed up. Raph growled, then he grabbed the robotic arm and brought his elbow down on it hard. He kicked the robot back inside, which caused it to be separated from its arm. Raph slammed the door shut, and shoved the severed arm through the door handles, locking them in place.

"That'll hold them!"

Raph turned to face us. We were all staring at him, eyebrows raised. Raph shrugged.

"What?"

"You," Leo stated. "Are seriously twisted."

"Thanks."

"I don't think that was supposed to be a compliment, dude," I told him.

"No! Let me go!"

April's creams brought us back to our senses. We turned and looked up at the roof in time to see April and her father being led into a helicopter.

"Let's get 'em!" Leo shouted.

But we had barley ran more than a few feet before a huge vine-looking thing with thorns dropped down in front of us. As they rose in the air my gaze fell on the creature before us. It was huge! It had a body like a tree trunk, green and molded weirdly. It had two thorny vines for arms and the ends of both vines had jaws made of leaves. If I had to describe the face, I'd say it looked kind of like a praying mantis, except way uglier.

It was a very large, clearly pissed off mutant weed.

"Uh-oh…" Mikey muttered.

The mutant reared its large, ugly head back, letting out a loud shriek.

"You did this to me!" it snarled at us. "Now you're going to pay!"

"Any ideas on who or what this is?" I asked the others, hoping one of them could answer.

"It's Snake!" Leo exclaimed. "He mutated into a… giant weed!"

Snake squalled, clapping his leafy hands like Venus Flytraps.

"That's weird," said Mikey. "You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake."

"Yeah, you would. If you were an _idiot_!" Raph snapped at his little brother.

"But his name is _Snake_," Mikey said as though he were explaining something serious.

Raph raised his brows. "So?"

"You don't understand science."

I opened my mouth to comment when there was a loud crackling noise. The lower half of snake's trunk-like body suddenly split in two and broke free from the ground. I gasped, taking a few steps back.

"I'll crush you turtles!" he shrieked, and he glanced at me. "I'll crush all of you!"

I gulped. "Heh... Guess that includes me too, huh?" I muttered.

Donnie cleared his throat. "Uh… would it help if we say it was an accident?"

Snake pulled his other foot from the ground and leaned towards them.

"So!" Donnie gripped his Bo staff. "I'll put you down for a 'no'?"

Snake let out a horse yell and swung his vine towards us. I managed to leap out of the way, but Mikey and Raph got knocked down.

"That is a definite 'no'!" I shouted.

Leo leapt forward a he raised his katana, and sliced off the vine. Snake squalled painfully, flapping his arm around as what looked like purple blood started spraying and spurting everywhere. Mikey yelped as he pushed himself back, desperate not to let the junk get on him.

"Ew! _Eww!_ Don't let it touch me! _Don't let it touch me!_" he screamed as a tiny dollop of blood fell on his leg. "Ahh!_ It touched me!_"

Then the vine Leo cut started straining outward. It was growing back! Snake grinned, clapping his leafy hand again.

"It grew back!" Donnie frowned. "No fair!"

Suddenly the whirl of a helicopter reached our ears. We looked up and saw the helicopter the family was forced into was starting to get into the air.

"Donnie! Go!" Leo shouted.

Donnie's eye narrowed as he sheathed his Bo staff. He ran towards Leo, who was crouched down slightly. Donnie jumped, and Leo used his hands to help launch him into the air. Donnie flipped up and landed by the chopper pad.

"I hope you have a plan, Leo!" I yelled.

"I'm working on it!"

Snake swung his vines at us, and we scattered. Looking frantic, Mikey took the bade of his kusarigama and started slicing the oncoming vines. But he was soon knocked aside just a few moments later. Leo stepped up and started slicing everything that came anywhere near him. But like Mikey, he was pushed aside, too. I charged forward, darting from left to right to avoid the dangerous vines. I jumped up and flung my tessen forward, aiming for Snake's face. He lifted one of his vines to block it, but the fan sliced through it with ease. Snake squealed more. I raised my hand as my tessen started to spin back towards me, and caught it.

"Nia, watch out!" Mikey yelled.

I looked up to see one of Snake's vine had started to creep up on me. I wasn't fast enough though, and he tripped me and then pushed me back several feet. I landed on the ground and rolled a few times before coming to a stop, laying on my side. Suddenly, Snake took Raph and threw him down at us, but Leo and Mikey managed to catch him. I stood up as we all stared at Snake.

"Snakeweed is really powerful!" Mikey shouted.

"Snakeweed?" me and Raph said in unison.

"Yeah! His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so…"

"We get it!" Raph snapped.

"We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back!" said Leo.

There was a loud _bam _from behind us. We all turned and saw the Kraang had suddenly burst open, and several robots spilled out.

"While not getting shot by alien robots," Leo finished.

"With brains!" Mikey added.

"Let it go, man," said Raph.

Snakeweed squealed again, and I could hear the Kraang wiring their guns. I crouched down slightly, holding my tessen up in a defensive stance.

"Raph! Nia! You guys handle Snakeweed!" said Leo. "Me and Mikey will handle the robots!"

I nodded, and turned to face Snakeweed. Raph jumped up and punched him a few times in the face. Snakeweed shot his vines at him, but Raph sliced them with his sai. I ran up to one of his tree-trunk legs and ran up it. I jumped up, and shot down towards Snakeweeds face, aiming my tessen at him. There was a _slash _as I felt my tessen come into contact with the weed's face. He squealed in pain, and I landed on the ground with ease. I turned to look up at him, and I saw a long gash between his eyes.

"Nice one, Nia!" shouted Raph.

Suddenly the Kraang came up and started firing their weapons at us. We jumped out of the way, leaving Snakeweed in the line of fire. He was shot several times, and squalled. He used one of his long vines to knock down the Kraang, and then knocked us down, too.

"What's the plan again, Chief?" Raph asked Leo sarcastically.

"I'm working on it!"

Then one of Snakeweeds vines came down and grabbed onto Leo. It pulled him up so he was hanging in the air by his ankle. Snakeweed thrashed him around a bit, but Leo's gaze seemed to be elsewhere.

"The power conduits!" he exclaimed.

"Are we really gonna start talking about that again?" Raph snapped.

Leo didn't answer as he was thrashed around more. But there was something in the look on his face that suggested that he had something going on in his head.

"Raph! Mikey! Nia!" Leo shouted.

We looked up at him as he placed the end of one of his katanas in his mouth. Then he used his free hand to make several odd hand gestures. I recognized them as the gestures from earlier. _Leo, you clever boy. _We all nodded, and then charged towards Snakeweed. We went around behind him just as Leo sliced off the vine that was holding him. Snakeweed turned to face me, Raph and Mikey. He waved and snapped his vines at us, trying to grab us. But we simply flipped out of the way. One vine tried to grab my let, but I snap-kicked it and did a back flip to keep my distance. Mikey and Raph flipped until they were next to me. We all turned to see the Kraang standing behind us, guns pointed at us. The boys made some funny faces and noises, taunting the robots. I smirked as I blue a raspberry, waving my hands in the air.

The robots began firing, and me and the boys scattered out of the way. I did a few more back flips to make sure I had some distance before I stopped.

"Nia!"

I turned around to see Donnie standing right behind me. Next to him was the girl, April.

"Oh, thank God," I sighed. "Are you alright?"

"We're okay," said Donnie.

I looked at April, who nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

I nodded, and turned around to see what else was going on. That's when I saw Leo standing on power conduit. He reached from behind him, and pulled out two throwing stars. He threw them at Snakeweed, who grunted, and turned to face the blue-banded turtle.

"Hey, come and get me, Stink-weed!" Leo jeered, sticking his tongue out at said mutant.

Snakeweed squealed and lunged forward at Leo. But said turtle simply jumped and landed on Snakeweed's back. Leo laughed tauntingly at the Kraang, his tongue hanging out, smacking the back of his shell at them. The Kraang fired their weapons right at him. Leo did a back flip off of Snakeweed's back and ran out of the way. The Kraang continued to fire repeatedly at Snakeweed, but ended up hitting the power conduits instead. A few seconds later Snakeweed, who was still touching the power conduit, reared his head back and screeched in pain. He looked like he was being electrocuted with pink electricity. After a few moments the thing exploded in a mash of pink fire and smoke. I glanced up in the air, and tiny bits and pieces of Snakeweed's body started falling around us, including some more weird purple blood.

"That," I stated. "Is disgusting."

Raph turned to face me. "C'mon. We gotta go."

I nodded. I looked around once to make sure that my bros and April were all right, and then we all ran for the exit.

* * *

The first thing we did was take April to her aunt's apartment. She was very grateful to us, but she was still very upset. Donnie had managed to save her without problem, but there was nothing he could do to save her father. The guys were all standing on the fire escape, I was sitting on the railing, and April was sitting on her window ledge.

"Are you gonna be alright?" Donnie asked her.

April shrugged. "I guess. My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want," she hugged her knees tightly. "But I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad."

"Won't the police help?" asked Leo.

"Funny thing," April chuckled dryly. "When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously."

Mikey nodded. "I hear that."

"April," Donnie piped up. "I promise you, we will not rest until we find him."

Raph blinked. "We won't?"

Leo nudged his arm and I pushed his shoulder.

"No, we won't," said Leo.

"We'll do everything we can to bring him back to you," I told her.

"Thank you," said April. "But it's not your fight."

April looked down at her feet, a serious expression on her face. Then Donnie reached over and placed his hand over her own.

"Yes, it is," he stated.

April blinked, startled by the intimate gesture. But then she looked up at Donnie, and smiled at him. Donnie yanked his hand back, his green cheeks looking rather pink. Then he grinned sheepishly and backed away. The others all started to climb up to the rooftop. Donnie got up there last. He turned back to look at April, and grinned as he waved at her. April waved back, and Donnie grinned more.

"C'mon, Nia," he said as he turned.

"Comin'!" I turned to April. "So, I assume we'll be seeing you again?"

April nodded. "Definitely."

"Awesome! Little warning, though. My bros can be pretty… funny sometimes. But once you get to know them, you'll love them."

She chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."

I smiled. Waving my hand slightly, I turned and followed my brothers to the rooftops.

* * *

As soon as we got home the boys went off to do their own thing. Donnie, Raph and Mikey were watching TV, and Leo was in the dojo with Sensei. Feeling a little board, I decided to go see what Leo was up to. What I didn't expect was to see him having a conversation with Splinter.

"I am impressed, Leonardo. You proved to be an effective leader under the most difficult of circumstances."

I smiled as I put my hands in my pockets and I leaned against the wall.

"Thank you, Sensei," said Leo. "And I think I've figured out why you made me leader."

"Oh? Why is that?" Sensei asked curiously.

"Because you sensed inside me a true, warrior spirit that would forge us all into the heroes we are destined to become!" Leo said very dramatically.

"No."

I blinked. _Well, this oughta be good._

"No? Then why did you make me leader?"

"Because… You asked."

My jaw fell as I stared at Sensei. _Really? That's why?_

"That's it?!" Leo exclaimed. "But, you seemed so certain you were right."

"As a leader, you will learn that there is no right and wrong. Only choices."

"So, you could've chosen _any_ of us?"

"Yes."

"Even _Mikey_?!"

"No!" Sensei laughed. "That would have been wrong."

I sighed, face-palming.

"Is something wrong, Lavinia?"

I opened my eyes to see Sensei and Leo both looking at me.

"Sometimes your advise can be just a little confusing, Sensei," I admitted. "No offense."

"But that is why I tell you those things now, Lavinia," Sensei walked towards me. "I tell you all that you must know now so that when you are older, you will have gained the knowledge to understand what I have taught you."

I bit my lip for a moment. "Okay… now that I understood."

Sensei chuckled.

"_Everybody_!" I heard Mikey yell. "Come here! We made the news!"

"What?" I gasped.

I spun on my heel and sprinted towards the living room. I stood behind the couch as I looked at the TV.

"_A report of- get this- _ninjas _in New York! Don't believe me? After residents reported a disturbance, the police recovered this."_

An image of a throwing star with our insignia on it appeared on the screen.

"Oh, crap…" I mumbled.

"_For Channel 6 News, this is Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe saying, "Hai-ya!"_

"This is _awesome_!" Mikey said happily. "We're gonna be _famous_!"

"I'm pretty sure that's bad, Mikey," I told him.

"Lavinia is right," Sensei said firmly. "You must be more careful. A ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

"Relax, Sensei," said Raph. "It's just one little news story. What's the worst that could happen?"

Sensei shook his head. I sighed. Maybe Raph was right. I mean, it was just a little throwing star. No one could make anything out of that, right?

"Well, I don't know about you guys," I said. "It's late, and now I'm hungry."

"So am I!" Mikey piped up. "I've had some serious munchies all night!"

Mikey did a back flip and landed in front of me. Then he turned around and crouched down slightly. I laughed before running up and jumping onto his shell. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he grabbed onto my legs.

"To the kitchen, Michelangelo!" I jeered. "There are snacks to be had!"

"Aw yeah!"

We both laughed as Mikey charged, giving me a piggyback ride to the kitchen. I heard the boys laughing from behind me, and I could've sworn I heard Sensei mumbled something that sounded like, "teenagers."

* * *

**Aw, a nice happy ending for a chapter. If only they knew what was coming... But! We'll just have to wait to read about that, won't we? I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review about how much you liked it, hated it, or whatever. I love it when you leave reviews. Bye!**


	8. Turtle Temper

Ch. 3  
Turtle Temper

I'm bored. I just want to get that out there right now. I know it's pretty blunt, but it's a fact. I mean, without my playing cards to occupy myself, stakeouts can get pretty boring. Because that's what we were currently doing. We had been staking out the building of a lab that- thanks to April's knowledge- we knew the Kraang were going to break into. Leo figured the aliens were going to make for it eventually, so he planned a stakeout for it.

Both Leo and Donnie were standing by the edge of the building, looking down at the facility that held the lab. Donnie was peering through a spyglass, and Leo was observing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing yet," said Donnie.

I sighed. _Geez, it's been an hour! When are the Kraang gonna show up? _I stuck my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and turned to face the other two. Raph was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his shell against the wall of a building block, his arms folded, and he appeared to be half asleep. Mikey was laying on top the block with his stomach down, a mischievous look on his face. He then reached his hand down, and poked the top of Raph's head. Raph swatted his hand away, and Mikey chuckled. He tapped a second time, and Raph swatted his hand again. Still somehow amused, Mikey went for a third tap. But before he could even touch his brother's head, Raph reached up and grabbed onto Mikey's finger. I hissed slightly when I heard a small _crack_, and Mikey yelped. Raph released his hold, glaring up at Mikey. The younger turtle whimpered slightly as he stuck his sore finger into his own mouth. I sighed.

"Must you always hurt the poor boy?" I asked Raph.

"He was asking for it," he grumbled.

"Guys!" Leo hissed, and we all turned to see him glaring at us. "When ninjas are on surveillance, they are suppose to be _silent_!"

I nodded. "Sure thing, dude."

"Sorry, Leo," said Mikey. "I'll scream quieter."

Mikey looked back down at Raph, a smile reappearing on his face. He lifted his hand up, and started to bring his finger closer and closer to Raph's head.

"Mikey…" I hissed warningly.

But it was no use. Before I could say more, Mikey had poked Raph's head, and giggled like an excited schoolboy. Raph's eyes snapped open as he let out a low growl. _And Raph snaps in 3...2...1... _Raph reached up, grabbed Mikey's wrist, and tossed him down onto the ground. Raph jumped over to him, wrapped an arm around Mikey's neck, and stood up, keeping the younger turtle in a headlock.

"Say it," said Raph.

"Raph! Be quiet!" Leo snapped.

"Not 'til Mikey says it!"

Mikey struggled to break free of his brother's grasp, but failed miserably. He sighed, letting his arms go limp.

"Raphael is all wise and powerful," he grumbled irritably, rolling his eyes.

Raph released him. But barely a second later he grabbed Mikey again and twisted his head a bit.

"And…?"

"And he's better than me in every possible way!" Mikey said, struggling again.

Raph released him again, and Mikey gasped for air. Then Raph raised his elbow up and brought it down on Mikey's shell, sending said turtle to the ground.

"Raph!" I hissed.

Raph ignored me and kneeled down, keeping his brother pinned.

"And…?"

"And I'm a lowly worm beneath his feet who isn't fit to live on the same planet as him because he's so amazing and I'm a dirt clod!"

Mikey said all of this really fast and breathlessly. Raph then licked his finger and held it over Mikey's head. He grinned evilly as Mikey stared up at the finger, his big blue eyes going wide.

"_And…?_"

Mikey's lip trembled. "In the history of the universe, there's never been-!"

"Okay, _enough_!" Leo snapped, sounding very irritated.

Raph looked up to glare at Leo. He released his hold on Mikey, who gasped, looking deflated. Raph stood up and marched over to Leo.

"We're wasting our time!" he said. "The Kraang aren't gonna show up!"

Leo just looked at him. "Have a little patience, will you?"

"No offense Leo, but I think I'm with Raph on this one," I said as I walked up to them. "I mean, we've been out here for God knows how long, so I think we can assume that nothing's gonna happen tonight."

"Just have faith, Nia," Leo said wisely. "And patience. It's bad enough with Raph having problems with waiting."

"I'm not that bad!" Raph snapped. "I'm just sick of sitting up here doing nothing!"

"Trust me, guys. Their gonna break into that lab tonight," Donnie placed a hand on his chest, looking confident. "I have reliable intel."

"Intel?" Raph smirked. "You mean, _April _told you."

I raised my eyebrow as I grinned over at Donnie. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was _April_ who told _you _they were gonna be here."

"April?" Mikey grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You mean his _girlfriend_?"

I had to bite my lip to keep myself from giggling as I looked over at Donnie. I swear, if looks could kill, Mikey wouldn't be breathing right now. I could almost see steam floating off Donnie's head.

"She's not my girlfriend, _Mikey_!" he snapped, but me and the other turtles exchanged grins. "She's a girl, who's a friend, whose dad got kidnapped by the same guys who are gonna break into that lab, and we're gonna stop them!"

"Or we'll sit out on a cold roof all night for _no reason_," Raph said bluntly.

I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted by the sound of the rooftop door creaking.

"What the heck's goin' on up here?"

I froze and turned my head. Standing there was the ugliest man I had ever seen. He appeared to be in his 50's, bald, and had a beer belly so huge that it poked out from underneath his stained tank-top.

"What are yah, playin' dress up?" he asked.

"No, sir…" Leo said nervously. "We were just-"

But the man wasn't paying attention. He appeared to be looking at something on the ground. I glanced behind us, and saw there was a broken satellite dish. _Erm… that wasn't our fault, was it?_

"You! Snowcap!" the man snapped, and I turned to see the man pointing a finger at me. "Which one of your slimy, green ham shanks busted my satellite dish?!"

"Snowcap?" I snapped.

"_Ham shanks?!_" Raph shouted angrily.

"I don't even know what that means…" said Donnie.

"Me neither," said Raph. "But I don't like it!"

Raph reached towards his belt for his sai, but Leo stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Let's go," he said firmly.

He let go of Raph's wrist and started to walk away, and Donnie and Mikey followed. I turned back to face the man.

"For the record, my hair's not white," I pointed up at my head. "It's platinum blonde. There's a difference!"

The man folded his arms, a smirk growing on his face. I rolled my eyes as I turned to Raph, who was still glaring at the human.

"Raph, c'mon," I put a hand on his shoulder. "We don't need any of this crap. Let's just leave."

Raph huffed, then turned away.

"That's right, yah spineless creampuff!" the man taunted loudly. "Listen to your _girlfriend_!"

I blinked and whipped my head around. "Girlfriend?"

"Hey!" Raph took out his sais. "Watch it, buddy!"

The man mimicked being frightened. "Oh, no! I didn't know you had _salad tongs_!"

"_Salad tongs?!_"

"Oh, Jesus!" I cried.

Just as Raph started to charge forward my brothers grabbed him. Leo and Mikey held onto his arms, and Donnie held onto the back of his shell. I stood in front of Raph and put my hands on his shoulders, pushing him back.

"Raph, don't!" I told him.

"I'm not gonna take this from some greasy, pit-stained slob in a comb-over!" Raph snapped.

"You callin' me ugly? Seen a mirror lately, circus freak?"

Raph bared his teeth. "Nia. Move," he growled.

"No!" I snapped. "He's just getting under your shell, Raph! Leave it be!"

Raph wasn't listening, and was still trying to move forward, despite the effort his brothers were giving to keep him back. I groaned irritably as I pushed him back with all my might.

"It's… not… worth it…!" I grunted loudly as I pushed against him.

"You want a piece of me?"

"Will you shut it!" I snapped at the human.

Raph growled once more, his eyes blazing with fire. "When I'm done, a _piece _of you is all that's gonna be _left_!"

With one final push and one final pull, me and the guys were finally able to move him back. Good thing, too. Because at that exact moment a pink laser shot out right where Raph had been staring. I straightened up before turning around. There were several Kraang robots standing on the opposite side of the rooftop.

"Kraang-droids!" Leo cried.

"Holy talido!" the human said in surprise.

I groaned. "Can this night get any worse?"

"Way to blow our position, Raph," Leo said irritably.

We all drew our weapons out in a second. This time, instead of my tessen, I decided to pull out my kamas. I wanted to see how well they worked with these Kraang jerks. The Kraang-droids aimed their guns at us, and started firing.

"Scram!" Leo ordered.

We did as we were told. After that I charged towards the robots, my kamas held at the ready. I jumped left and right to avoid fire as I jumped at the robot closest to me. I used my right kama to push its gun up and out of the way, and I used my left one to slice through its chest. I then raised both of them up and brought them down, slicing through the dude's arms. Sparks flew as I kicked him back, causing him to bump into another robot, and they both fell.

Surprisingly, that's all I needed to do. The Kraang all stood up and then ran off before me or my bros could do anything.

"Keep going, Kung Fu frogs!" I heard the man shout. "This is pure gold!"

I whipped my head around. The man was sitting in the doorway, a grin on his face, and a phone in his hand.

"We're not _frogs_, you idiot!" Raph snapped.

"Yeah, seriously?" I said. "When's the last time you saw a frog with a shell?"

"And it's not _Kung Fu_!" Donnie corrected irritably. "It's an ancient Japanese battle art!"

"Guys!" Leo hissed, sounding nervous. "He got us on _video_!"

Raph bared his teeth and growled with rage. "Not for long he doesn't!"

Raph suddenly charged, running for the man. But just as Raph jumped to grab him, the human ran inside and shut the door. Raph's face smashed into the door, and he slid down onto the floor. From the other side I could hear the man laughing.

"I'm gonna make a fortune off of this!" he said.

Raph sat up, his head tipping and his eyes spinning for a second. Then he shook his head and went back to normal. I opened my mouth to ask if he was okay, but as I did I heard the sound of sirens in the distance.

"Fire trucks, on route! Thirty seconds!" said Donnie.

"Then let's move," said Leo.

"Wait!" Raph snapped. "We have to find that guy and break his phone! And his _face_!"

But even as he ranted, the others had already started running off. Raph stared after them, looking surprised.

"Raph, c'mon!" I urged him. "We gotta go now!"

Raph looked at the door, looked at the ground, and grunted irritably as he threw his arms down. We both turned and followed our brothers to safety.

_Swoosh!_

I inhaled sharply as I heard a soft noise amongst the loud sirens. I whipped my head around to look at the rooftop, but there was nothing there. The roof was empty, but I could've sworn I heard something.

"Nia, what is it?" I heard Raph ask.

"I… don't know…" I shook my head. "I just thought I heard something. Other than sirens, I mean."

"Raph! Nia! C'mon!" I heard Leo shout at us.

Raph looked at me for a second before turning on his heel and running off. I sighed as I followed him. _Oh, man… _I thought to myself. _Sensei is gonna be so pissed about this…_

* * *

"Not only did Raphael alert the Kraang, but you got caught… on _video_!"

I gulped as is shifted in my seat between Mikey and Donnie. _Yep. He is totally pissed._

"Sensei!" Raph said defensively. "He was the angriest, nastiest guy you've ever met!"

"Except for you," Mikey said, smirking.

Raph glared and smacked Mikey's head. Mikey yelped. Then he whimpered as he rested his head on my shoulder, and I rubbed it affectionately. Raph continued talking to Sensei.

"You should've heard the insults this guy was throwing at us! They were so…"

"Insulting?" I asked as I continued to rub Mikey's head.

"Yes!" Raph agreed.

"Oh! I did not realize he said _mean things_," Sensei said sarcastically. "Of course! You had no choice but to _jeopardize your mission_!"

"Burn," Mikey whispered.

Raph glared and turned to face him, but Mikey clung onto me for dear life, as though I were a shield to Raph's rage.

"You are _ninjas_," Sensei said firmly as he paced in front of us. "You work in the shadows- in secret. This becomes difficult if there is proof of your existence in _high definition_!"

"Look," Raph continued. "We know where this guy lives. All we have to do is find him, and shake him until the tape pops out."

"Oh, there's no tape," Donnie piped up. "Video cameras use a flash memory and-"

But he was cut off as Raph started growling again, an intense glare on his face.

"Geez, Raph, calm down," I told him. "You'll just make things worse."

"Lavinia is right," said Splinter. "Anger is self-destructive."

Raph glanced down at the floor, and muttered, "I always thought it was _others _destructive."

"Raphael!" Sensei said sharply. "Stand up."

I couldn't help but cringe slightly at the tone of Splinter's voice. _Oh boy, now he's in _real _trouble. _Raph looked a little uneasy as he slowly stood up on his feet.

"Somebody's in trouble," Mikey sang sweetly.

* * *

We were now in the dojo, no doubt for Raph's punishment. Raph stood in the middle of the room, and we were all circling him. We were each holding a bow and arrow, holding the strings back, ready to fire. Instead of arrowheads, the arrows had little suction cups on the ends of them. I had no idea what our Sensei was up to, but I hope it's worth it.

"Evade the arrows," Sensei told Raph, who grinned.

"No problem!"

"Hajime!"

Mikey shot his arrow, and Raph dodged it easily. Leo shot next, but the arrow barley touched Raph's shoulder. I shot next, aiming for his shell. But he jumped up and let it go under him. Donnie shot next, but Raph did a back flip, withdrawing his sais from his belt, and landed back on the ground. Splinter caught the arrow that was coming for him between his two fingers.

"Yame!"

We all stood at attention, waiting for orders.

"Again!" said Splinter. "Except this time, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Lavinia… insult Raphael."

I blinked. "Sensei…?" I said unsurely.

"Wait," said Donnie. "Insult…_him_?"

"Yes," said Sensei.

"And he can't fight back?"

"No."

Donnie chuckled. "I'm feeling good about this plan."

"Hajime!"

At the same moment, me and the boys began circling our brother. _Oh boy, _I thought. _Now what? I don't wanna insult Raph._ The others seemed to be having different feelings towards this situation, however. Mikey's sinister laugh proved that.

"You move like a bloated buffalo!" he said.

Mikey fired his arrow, but Raph did a split as it soared above his head.

"I do _not_!"

"And you're always whining," Leo said, mimicking a sad voice. "Poor me! Nobody understands me!"

"Well, you don't understa-"

_Smack!_ Leo's arrow stuck to the back of Raph's shell. I sighed. _Alright, let's get this over with…_

"And you're always _so _grumpy!" I taunted. "It's like you're the freakin' Prince of Darkness."

Raph turned to stare at me just as I shot my arrow. It struck him, sticking to his upper plastron.

"And…" Donnie paused. "Oh! You don't keep your back straight when doing omota gota giatu!"

Donnie fired, and hit the back of Raph's shell.

"And you're ugly!" he added, firing another arrow that hit his brother.

"And gassy!" said Mikey, who fired another arrow, which hit Raph as well.

"And _boring_!" I sang, firing an arrow that hit Raph's arm.

"Stop it!" Raph shouted.

"Aw, you talk so tough, but inside you're just a scared little baby," said Leo.

"Who needs his bottle!" said Donnie, and he fired.

"And his diaper changed!" Mikey added, firing an arrow as well.

"Aw, little Raph's getting a temper tantrum," I cooed teasingly, firing an arrow that hit his shell.

"What's wrong, Raph? Gonna cry?" Leo taunted.

"I…"

I shot an arrow that hit the back of Raph's head.

"Am…"

An arrow hit the side of his head.

"Not…"

An arrow hit the other side.

"Gonna cry-!"

An arrow hit his forehead, right between the eyes. Raph fell back and landed on his shell.

"Ahh… I wish this moment would last forever," Mikey sighed.

"You know what?!" Raph stood up, throwing his sais on the ground. "Forget this! This is _stupid_!"

"Aww! It didn't!" Mikey said disappointingly.

Raph turned, his frame hunched over, a grim look on his face. He walked over to Sensei, who observed his arrow-covered son.

"Ninniku Seishin is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility," Sensei said wisely. "You cannot be a true ninja until you learn to master it."

The arrows on the sides of Raph's head popped off, and Mikey giggled. Raph glared at his brother, clenching his hand into a fist.

"_Understood_?" Sensei asked firmly.

Raph unclenched his fist, and turned to face Splinter. "Hai, Sensei."

"You must get that video back," said Sensei. "Using _reason_, not force."

Raph looked down at the floor, a glum look on his face. I gulped slightly. _Great, now I feel bad… _I took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards Raph. I saw Sensei glance down at me, but I continued forward. I stopped only when I was right next to Raph.

"I'm sorry."

Raph snapped his head up and looked at me, a surprised look on his face. I glanced up at the arrow on the back of his head- the one that I had fired. I reached up, grabbed it, and took it off with a loud _pop!_

"I'm sorry for this insult," I told him.

Raph stared at me, speechless. I grabbed the arrow I had fired at his arm, and took it off.

"And this one…"

I grabbed the one on the top of his shell, and I took that one off, too.

"And this one…"

I reached for the one on his chest, and it popped off as well.

"And this one," I put all of the arrows in one hand, and held my hands at my sides. "I didn't mean any of the things I said, and I hope you can forgive me."

The whole room was silent. Nobody spoke. Raph was staring at me, a confused look on his face. A second later a small grin appeared on his face.

"Don't sweat it, Nia," he said. "I know you didn't mean it."

I smiled at him, feeling very relieved. I glanced up at Sensei, and I saw he was smiling warmly at me.

* * *

We decided to go after the guy the next night. We were hiding on the roof of the guy's apartment, waiting for him to appear. Sure enough, after we were there for an hour, the dude finally walked out of the building, talking on the phone.

"I swear in my mother's grave that these guys are frogs and they know Kung Fu!" he said. "They even got a pretty little white-haired girl who can fight like wildcat! You can't tell me that's not worth _somethin'_!"

"Now!" Leo hissed.

At once we all jumped off the roof and landed in a circle around him. He stopped walking and stared at us all.

"I'll call you back," he hung the phone up, and he pointed at us as he backed up. "Lay one finger on me frog, and I'm callin' the cops. And that means you too, Snowcap!" he added to me.

"My hair's not white!" I said exasperatedly.

The man rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I ain't got time for you..."

"We're not gonna hurt you," Raph grunted through gritted, his fists clenched.

"Then whadda want, freak?"

I gulped. _God, this guy's really asking for it now. _Feeling nervous, I glanced over at Raph, and saw he was shaking slightly, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"We got off on the wrong foot last night," he said, the pitch in his voice going slightly higher as he tried to stay calm. "Some things were said, and well… We would just like that video back. Hm?"

He gave a small shrug, and unconvincing grin on his face. We all looked at the man, giving him hopeful smiles. He raised an eyebrow, not looking convinced. Leo nudged Raph's arm, and the latter glared at his older brother before groaning.

"Please…" he said lowly.

"What are you gonna give me for it?" the man asked.

"Oh, boy…" I sighed.

"Give you for it?" Raph asked.

"Well, I figure I got you over a barrel, so you need to make it worth my while."

Raph grinned evilly. "I'll make it worth your while… I WON'T TAKE YOUR HEAD AND SMASH IT AGAINST THE-!"

"Okay!" Leo said quickly. "Thank you, Raphael! _I _will take over!"

Raph turned away and folded his arms, a glum look on his face. I could see steam rising off his head. I rolled my eyes as I patted his shoulder.

"So, what are you looking for?" Leo asked the man.

"Ah… Cool mil oughta cover it."

Leo nodded. "Mhm, mhm… A cool mil of what?"

"A million dollars."

I turned my head to stare at the man. "You cannot be serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking, _Snowcap_?" the man said, smirking.

"Dude, we're fifteen!" I snapped. "We ain't got two penny's to rub together!"

"We do have some Canadian quarters that fell through the grate!" Mikey said hopefully.

But the man wasn't having any of it. "I can make some serious money off of this thing," he said, waving the phone at us. "And if you don't wanna pay, I'll hold onto it until someone else does."

"That's it!"

Raph had finally snapped. He grabbed the man by his wrist, flipped him over, and pinned him to the ground.

"Hand over the video!" he raised his fist up. "Or so help me, I'll kick your hairy butt all the way to New Jersey!"

"Raph, c'mon, stop it!" I said.

But at that point we were all engulfed in the bright beam of headlights. I turned around, and saw a van just down the street.

"Guys, the Kraang!" Leo yelled.

The white van's engine rumbled as I started heading for us, getting faster and faster.

"Raph! Look out!" Leo shouted.

He leaped forward, grabbed Raph and the man, and managed to push them out of the way just in time before the van could run them over. Once the van passed I ran over to make sure that Leo and Raph were okay.

"Guys! Are you alright?" I asked.

"Never better," Raph grunted as he stood up.

We all turned to look at the van, and saw it had turned and was heading back towards us.

"Let's not let this one get away," said Leo.

Raph turned and grabbed an empty oil barrel. He flung it at the van, and hit the vehicle. The van skidded, hit the walls, and then crashed into a building.

"Well, that was easy," Raph said smugly, folding his arms.

Then the Kraang-droids busted out of the back of the van, aimed their guns at us, and began firing.

"Okay…" Raph said slowly.

"Thanks for jinxing us, Raph," I said bluntly.

I withdrew my kamas and jumped out of the way of the lasers. I ran up to one robot and kicked him to the ground. I was about to kick its face when it lifted the gun, and I saw it had a saw on it. I yelped as I jumped back to avoid getting my foot chopped off. The Kraang-droid stood up and charged at me, but I managed to move out of the way to avoid the saw. I kicked the robot's arm up and used my kama to slice the appendage off. I spun around, and kicked the dude back several feet.

"Raph, what are you doing? Get back here!"

I whipped my head around and saw Raph was stomping off towards the van, leaving Leo alone. Leo, being caught off guard, was suddenly pushed over by several Kraang-droids. They surrounded him, and started kicking him repeatedly. Leo held his hands over his head to protect his face and skull.

"Raph!" he shouted to his younger brother.

"Hold on, Leo!" I shouted.

I ran up to the robots and jumped up. I landed on one of them and threw my kama at another. The blade embedded itself into the robot's head, and the thing fell down on the ground. At that moment, Donnie and Mikey both ran up to us. Donnie helped Leo to his feet. But even as everything seemed temporarily fine, there was the rumble of an engine, and we saw the van drive off.

"Raph's in the van!" Leo shouted.

I blinked. "What?!"

Without hesitation, we all turned and ran after the vehicle. We ran as fast as we could, trying to catch up to the van. The back doors were opened, and I could see Raph fighting off several Kraang-droids. One robot managed to put him in a headlock and tried to shove him out. But Raph bit the robot's arm and punched the dude in the face. Then he held his arm out to the human guy(_how the hell did he get _in there_?_), but the human shook his head.

"Raph!" Donnie held his Bo staff out for his brother to grab. "Get out of there!"

Raph glanced at us before turning back to the human. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he was obviously yelling at the dude. But then another Kraang-droid grabbed him by his neck, and threw him out of the van. Before we could move he knocked into all of us, sending us down to the ground. I gasped as the wind was nearly knocked out of me, I slowly sat up. The van was gone. The Kraang had escaped.

All of the boys groaned as they got to their feet, staggering a little. Raph was still on the ground, holding his head gingerly. I quickly walked over to him and grabbed his arm.

"You okay, dude?" I asked as I helped him to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said gruffly.

"Oh, I'm glad you feel that way, Raph!" Leo snapped. "Especially since you just screwed up everything!"

Raph snapped his head to look at Leo. "What did _I _do?"

"What did you _do_? You left us in the middle of the fight to _yell _at somebody!" Leo said angrily. "We could've stopped them, but thanks to your temper, the guy with the tape-"

"Again, technically, it's a-"

"Not now!" Leo snapped at Donnie.

Donnie glanced down at the ground, looking sheepish.

"…is in the hands of the Kraang!" Leo finished. "How are we suppose to find them?"

Raph glared at Leo, his arms shaking. This didn't look good. Not at all.

"Look!" Donnie said suddenly. "The truck's leaking!"

I looked down at where Donnie was crouching, and I saw what looked like a puddle of oil in front of him. I glanced down the street, and I saw there were several more puddles, all in a line.

"Alright!" said Leo, looking a little more pleased. "We can follow the trail to their hideout!"

"And then we'll bash some bots!" Raph said enthusiastically, punching a fist into his hands.

Leo's face fell as he turned to look at his brother. The eldest turtle's face was cold, and firm.

"What?" the younger one asked.

"_We _are going to bash some bots," Leo folded his arms. "_You _are going home."

I turned my head to stare at Leo. _No… He wouldn't…_

"What? Are you kidding?" Raph looked at the rest of us. "Guys, are we really gonna let Leo power trip like this?"

There was a moment of silence.

"…I think Leo's right," Donnie said finally.

Raph stared at him in surprise. Then he looked at me.

"Nia, c'mon…"

I gulped. "I…um…"

"It doesn't matter what she says, Raph," Leo said. "I'm your leader, and I'm telling you to go home."

"Leo…"

But Leo held a hand up to silence me.

"You've gotta control your temper," he told Raph. "Until then… we just can't trust you."

Leo turned and started to walk away, and Donnie followed him.

"Sorry, Raph," said Mikey, and he walked away too.

I turned my head to Raph, and he was looking back at me. I could tell that he was furious, but he seemed to be holding it in.

"Raph, I'm sorry…"

"Don't say it," he said lowly. "Just go."

I gulped, feeling as though I were swallowing a large rock down my throat. I sighed before turning and following my brothers down the street. But even as I walked, I turned my head in time to see Raph throw his sias down on the ground in frustration. _I'm so sorry, Raph…_

* * *

The oil trail led us to what appeared to be an old, abandoned building. As we arrived we leaned against the wall, observing the structure.

"We're here," Donnie whispered.

I glanced down at Mikey, and I saw he had an uneasy look on his face.

"You okay, Mikey?" I asked him.

"Well…" he looked up at me. "Are we really gonna do this without Raph?"

I bit down on my lip. Honestly, I didn't know how to answer that. Apparently, Leo did.

"We can handle this," Leo said firmly.

"I dunno," said Mikey. "It just feels like something's missing."

Then Leo reared his hand up and smacked the back of Mikey's head.

"Ow!" then Mikey grinned. "Thanks."

"Happy to help," said Leo. "Let's go!"

We all climbed up the roof, and managed to brake in soon after. We were all in a dark, dusty bottom floor with several stairs. Not only that, there were a lot of cobwebs, as well as webs that still had a few spiders left in them.

"Spiders…" Mikey whimpered as he stared at a web that held a particularly large spider.

"It's okay, Mikey," I assured him. "It's just a little ol' bug, nothing more."

He gulped, but nodded. We continued on for a few more moments; Leo in the lead, me and Mikey walking side-by-side, and Donnie bringing up the rear. Both me and Mikey stopped momentarily, looking around for a second. Just as we both took a step forward, I saw Donnie reach up and smack the back of Mikey's head.

"Ow!"

"Don!"

"What?" Donnie shrugged, but I could've sworn I saw a smirk lingering on the corners of his mouth.

"You don't have to keep doing that!" Mikey napped through gritted teeth, rubbing his head gingerly.

"There was a spider on yah," Donnie said innocently.

Mikey glared. "Well, there's a spider on you, too!"

Donnie looked over his shoulder. "No there isn't…"

"C'mere!"

Mikey suddenly jumped onto Donnie, sending both of them to the ground. Mikey sat up and started to slap Donnie's head repeatedly. I quickly ran over and grabbed the top of Mikey's shell, trying to pry him off.

"Guys, c'mon, knock it off!" I snapped at them, but they didn't stop.

"Hey!" Leo hissed.

At once we all stopped moving. We turned our heads to look up at the leader.

"Shh!"

I frowned up at him as he turned around again. I let got of Mikey's shell and stood back as both him and Donnie stood up on their feet. Both turtles started to walk before Mikey turned back around, his hand in the air, threatening to start slapping again.

"Mikey…" I warned quietly.

After a second Mikey lowered his hand and walked away. I rolled my eyes as Donnie groaned in exasperation, and we continued on.

After what felt like and hour we came across this very large room. Inside it was what looked like a giant, 15ft tall can of mutagen. At the base of the huge thing, there were several Kraang-bots(some in their metal exoskeletons), and the rude human sitting in a chair.

"Well, you guys drive a hard bargain," he said. "Tell you what, I'll drop it down to five hundred thousand, and you can keep the phone!"

The Kraang turned away, apparently looking at the phone.

"Okay, four hundred thousand!" the human said, now sounding desperate.

"This is our fight with the beings known as 'the turtles, and the girl,'" I heard one of the blue Kraang-droids say.

"The usefulness of this will be proven usefully with the more watching of this," said another blue bot.

"Also," said a disguised Kraang. "This is being a good image of Kraang."

I rolled my eyes. _Give me a break… _While the Kraang were distracted Mikey had managed to loosen his kusarigama chain, swung it outward, and managed to hook the curved blade to the chair. Slowly and gently, he started to pull the on the chain, pulling the chair back closer to us. As he was pulled back the man turned his head to look at us.

"We're gonna get you out of here," Leo whispered.

"What about my phone?"

"Shh!" Leo hissed.

"Don't shush me!" the man said angrily. "I ain't leavin' here without my phone!"

_Geez, this guy is gonna get us caught…_

"Stop the ones that need to be stopped," I heard a Kraang shout.

"Stop!" said another.

_Damn…_

"Remind me why we need to rescue this guy," said Donnie.

The Kraang started firing at us. We all unsheathed our weapons as we charged towards the robots. I managed to jump up over a few, and landed on one's back. I took my right kama and sliced the bots neck, causing the head to become severed. The body fell down as I jumped off of it and landed in front of another one. The robot raised its weapon, but I swung my leg up and kicked it down to the ground. I raised my kamas and shoved them down into the robots head. I yanked them out, sparks flew, and I spun around and kicked the bot in its chest.

Before anything else could happen there was a long, drawn out yell. It sounded oddly like the human's voice. Then the yell slowly turned into a roar that sounded from behind the giant mutagen canister, and we all stopped moving. The Kraang powered up their weapons and aimed them into the darkness.

"Kraang, go look to the place where the thing that make the noise is, and tell us what thing makes that noise in that place," one Kraang-droid said to another.

_Geez, their grammar is awful, _I thought. The Kraang nodded, and walked into the darkness. We all stood there, waiting for something to come out. Suddenly, the Kraang-droid was throw back out of the dark. The little Kraang brain crawled out of the robot body and scrambled away, squalling in fear. The rest of the Kraang aimed their guns back to the darkness as another roar sounded.

"I don't like the sound of that," said Mikey.

"Me neither," I added.

At that moment an enormous creature jumped out from behind the huge canister and landed with a loud crash. It looked like a giant, mutant spider. It was solid black, had four legs with red stripes that appeared to be sticking out from its large head. It had short, stubby, humanoid arms and legs that had claws, and six large red eyes glared were glaring right at us. It opened its mouth, and revealed its several big, scary teeth.

"I don't like the look of it either!" Mikey said fearfully.

"What did you do to me?" the mutant spider yelled. "I'm hideous!"

I gasped. "Guys! It's the human!" I said. "He got hit with some mutagen!"

"And he got uglier!" Mikey added.

"Don't worry!" Leo said quickly. "The five of us can handle it!"

I looked over at him. _The _five _of us?_

"Okay, this might be a bad time to point this out," Donnie said timidly. "But, you sent one of the five of us home…"

"And right now, I wish it was me!" Mikey whimpered.

"This is your fault!" the spider growled. "I'm gonna rip your heads off!"

I gulped as I gripped the handles of my kamas tightly. _Good Lord, this is bad!_

"Alright, guys!" Leo held up his katana. "Get ready to dish out the might wrath of justice!"

"Seriously, just yell 'get him,'" Donnie said bluntly.

"Get-!"

But Leo was cut off as a long, black leg smacked him aside, causing him to crash into a pile of boxes.

Donnie charged at the spider, jumping up and tried to bring his staff down on the mutant spider's head. The four giant spider legs grabbed the staff and threw Donnie. I let out and irritated growl as I ran up to the giant spider. I threw one of my kamas up at the mutant's face, but he blocked it with one of his large legs. I jumped up and landed on the same leg. I launched myself towards the spider's face, aiming my kama at it. But two large legs grabbed me, and threw me far away. I shot through the air before landing on top of Donnie. I rolled off of him and laid my back on the floor.

"You…okay?" he grunted.

"Yep…" I groaned.

A second later Mikey, who was thrown by the spider too, landed next to us.

"Mikey, are you alright?" I asked as he sat up.

He groaned in response, but he appeared to be fine. I turned my head to see Leo standing in front of us, facing the large spider. We all instantly got to our feet.

"Is that all you got?" Mikey taunted.

"Mikey!" I snapped.

The spider started making large hacking sounds. Suddenly, an enormous, yellow spit glob was shot at our feet. The junk hissed, and melted through the floor like acid.

"The answer I was looking for was 'yes,'" Mikey said, sounding scared.

The spider then started shooting out glob after glob, firing at us like it was a machine gun. We all jumped and dodged in panic, trying to avoid the acid globs as well as the spider.

"I think that's our cue!" Leo said.

At once we turned and started sprinting for the exit. But the giant spider jumped in front of us, blocking our way. It roared as I let out a yelp. We turned and scattered as more acid globs were fired at us.

Donnie took his staff and swung it, trying to hit the mutants head. But he was blocked and thrown back quickly. Me and Leo both charged at the spider, our weapons held at the ready. But no matter how many times we hit the thing, he would always block us. I swung my kamas back and forth, aiming for the spider's head, his side, and his stomach. But each time I swung one of his legs would come down to block it. It went on until me and Leo where shoved back by one of the large legs. At that moment Mikey took a large oil barrel and lodged it into the mouth of the spider. The mutant looked surprised, and tried biting down on the barrel. Mikey smirked as he tossed another barrel at the spider's face. Said creature growled before spitting out the barrel and charging at them.

We all turned and ran off. The spider then started using its particularly sharp spider legs to stab at us. I yelped as I jumped to avoid a leg that just barely missed my left side. Suddenly, there was a loud hissing sound. I looked around and saw we were surrounded by acid globs. The globs melted through the floor, and we all fell through the large hole that resulted. We landed hard on the next floor, falling all over. I gripped my kamas tightly as I pushed myself up to a kneeling position.

"We're no match for Spider Bytes!" said Mikey.

"Spider Bytes?" Leo asked as he pushed himself up to his feet with his katana.

"Well, he's a spider, and he bites. So, I thought-"

"We get it!" Leo snapped.

'Spider Bytes' then jumped through the hole we had fallen through, and landed on his hands and feet. The spider stood himself upside down on his legs, back flipped right side up, faced us, and roared in our faces. Mikey screamed loudly, and the rest of us weren't any better. Mikey ran first, dodging left and right. We all followed close behind him. Spider Bytes rolled onto his legs, and then landed on his feet. We ran to the right, and the same thing happened.

"This bug is fast!" said Leo.

"Yeah, spiders aren't actually bugs," said Donnie.

Before he could continue one of the legs wrapped around his body and lifted him up into the air. Donnie yelled as he was flung around, and then thrown at a large crate.

"Donnie!" I yelled.

"Play time's over, frogs!" Spider Bytes yelled.

He hacked again, and an acid glob landed very close to Mikey and Leo.

"Leo, a plan would be really helpful right now!" I said, my voice shaking slightly.

"I know, I'm thinking," he said, his voice making him sound unsure.

I gulped and backed away as far as I could as Spider Bytes chomped his jaws at us, getting closer and closer…

"Wow, I didn't think this guy could get any uglier!"

I gasped. _Raph!_ I looked up at the upper level we fell through earlier, and I could see my red-banded bro standing there, looking down at us.

"Raph!" me, Donnie and Mikey said happily.

Raph jumped up from the upper floor and dived down. He landed neatly on one knee on the same floor as us.

"Well, I think you've been punished long enough," said Leo. "Come and join us!"

"Well, hey!" Spider Bytes mocked, smirking at Raph. "It's the Kung Fu frog with the salad tongs!"

Raph glared at him. "Hey, it's the stupid loudmouth who's about to get his butt kicked."

I grinned. _That's my boy!_ Spider Bytes spat an acid glob in Raph's direction, but the turtle simply jumped out of the way. Then the spider rolled around me and the others, spitting acid globs all around us. Before we could do anything the acid melted through, and we fell through this floor just like last time. We landed hard on the lower level, and I tumbled over and fell on this floor. I groaned as I pushed myself up with my arms. I glanced down at the floor, and I saw it was made of thick glass, and there was mutagen swirling around underneath.

"Uh… Let's not fall through _this _floor, okay?" Donnie said weakly as he stared down at the floor.

I nodded. "Agreed!"

I stood up on my feet as I stared up at the upper level. Spider Bytes and Raph were facing each other, and I could hear the spider speaking.

"Watch me turn your friends into frog fries!" the spider taunted. "I'll serve 'em up with your salad tongs! And I'll use them to skewer your snow-haired girlfriend like a marshmallow!"

I gulped. _That sounds very unpleasant…_ Spider Bytes turned around and jumped down the hole.

"Scram!" Leo shouted.

We all scattered as Spider Bytes landed with a loud thud. I looked up in time to see Raph land on top of the spider's head, jump off of him, and turned to face him, sais gripped tightly in his hands. Spider Bytes turned to face Raph, and I could see the giant mutant smirking down at the turtle.

"Aww… Froggie thinks he can stop me," the spider taunted. "Ribbit, ribbit…"

I gulped. _C'mon Raph, don't let him get to you…_

"What's that, tadpole? You too afraid to leap off your lily pad?"

I glanced down at Raph, waiting for him to do something. He glared up at the spider, anger in his eyes. Then his eyes shut as he took a long, slow breath. Then, even though he was whispering and was more than several feet away from me, I somehow managed to hear what he said next.

"Like a river over stone…"

I raised my brow. _I wonder… _Raph opened his eyes, and then smirked. He darted forward and jumped up, delivering several kicks and punches to Spider Bytes' face. After a few blows the spider fell down on his back, whimpering. Spider Bytes extended one of his long legs and reached for Raph's face. But the turtle managed to block the blow with his sai. Raph shouted as he pushed the leg aside just as an acid glob shot for him, but instead hit the spider leg. Spider Bytes yelled in pain, bringing his legs back towards him. He looked at his injured leg, then glared at Raph.

"That's some Kung Fu, frog."

At that moment we all jumped up and landed next to Raph. He grinned at us, then at the spider as he pointed one of his sais at the mutant.

"We're not _Kung Fu frogs_, we're _ninja turtles_!" Raph glanced at me, still grinning. "And a badass kunoichi!"

I grinned back at him. At once we all charged. Leo sliced his katana at one of the legs, while Mikey zip-lined across two others using his weapons, kicking Spider Bytes in the face. The spider started to stumble back, and that's when I charged up to him, jumped up, and delivered a hard kick to his face. The mutant spider flew back, and Donnie and Raph delivered their final blows on him. Spider Bytes landed heavily next to the large mutagen core, whimpering like a puppy that just got kicked. It was at that moment that I glanced down at the floor, and I saw the almost forgotten phone lying there.

"Oh, Raph," I sang. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Raph looked at me as I pointed down at the phone. He grinned before marching over and smashing the phone with his foot.

"No! My phone!" Spider Bytes yelled.

"Really?" I said exasperatedly. "You got mutated into an ugly spider and all you care about is your phone? Man, you're weird!"

We all surrounded the spider, closing in on him. He backed away slowly, keeping his distance from us. He glared at all of us.

"You're gonna regret this!" he vowed.

He flipped up, and used his spider legs to grab onto the mutagen core and crawl around it. We sheathed all of our weapons and ran to follow him.

We followed the mutant spider all the way up to the rooftop. By the time we got there he was already far ahead, jumping from building to building, roaring like a dinosaur.

"I know a nice Black Widow that'd be great for him," Donnie said casually.

"Yeah, well, let's hope they don't work out," I placed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. "I mean, can you imagine if they hooked up? Bet any baby of theirs would be the ugliest things in the world."

Donnie and Mikey laughed, and Raph chuckled. I smiled at the red-banded turtle as I turned to face him.

"So, what made you come back, big guy?" I asked.

"After I went home I had a talk with Master Splinter," he told me. "He told me that losing my temper could cost me everything. He said… that I should let insults wash over me…"

"Like a river over stone…" I finished, remembering the words Raph had said before.

"Yeah," he looked at me. "How'd you know?"

"Oh, I heard you say it before."

"When I was fighting the bug?"

I nodded.

"But, I was at least 10 feet from you, and I whispered," he raised his brow. "How'd you hear me?"

I thought about that. How did I hear him?

"I dunno. I guess I got good ears."

Raph didn't look fully convinced, but shrugged anyway. Before he could say more, Leo walked up to him.

"Nice work, Raph," he said, smiling at his brother. "I just wanted to say…"

"You don't have to apologize," Raph assured him.

Leo grinned. "I wasn't going to."

"Oh… Good!"

"Yeah, Raph," Mikey said, grinning. "Not bad for a bloated buffalo."

Mikey turned away as Raph clenched his fisted. The angry turtle glared at his younger brother, then his glare turned into an evil smirk.

"Uh, Mikey? You know we're not playing that game anymore, right?" I asked, unsurely.

Before Mikey could respond, Raph pounced on him. I couldn't help but giggle slightly as me and the other two watched Mikey flap his arms feebly and frantically.

"Ah! Okay!" Mikey gave a shout that turned into a wail. "Raph is all wise and powerful!"

"And…?"

"_And he's better than me in every possible way…!_"

I rolled my eyes. _Boys…_


	9. New Friend, Old Enemy

Ch. 4  
New Friend, Old Enemy

Man, I got to say, after spending the past few nights doing nothing but busting some bots, I was glad to be doing something fun tonight. Good, old fashion ninja fun for me and my bros. And fun for us consisted of us racing and doing tricks across the rooftops at night.

"Check it out!" Donnie shouted.

He lunged forward, running past all of us. He jumped off the rooftop and flipped, letting out a loud and happy "yee-hee!" He landed neatly on the opposite rooftop, sliding to a stop.

"Nice one, Don!" I yelled.

"Watch this, Nia!" said Mikey.

He jumped and bounced of the side of a rooftop water tower. He flipped in midair before rolling onto the opposite rooftop, landing right next to Donnie. Mikey laughed as he punched his fist into the air, and Donnie clapped. We all skidded to a stop at the end of the roof. We looked down to see the drop was pretty far down.

"Top that, chumps!" Mikey shouted as Donnie smirked at us, making challenging gestures with his hands.

"Uh-uh, them's fightin' words, Mikey!" I taunted, grinning at the younger turtle.

"Alright, guys…" Leo grinned. "Check _this _out!"

Leo took several steps back, then darted forward. He did a couple of front flips before jumping off of the roof. He did a few more flips in the air before landing on his feet on the opposite roof, finishing off with a midair cartwheel.

"Whoa!" Mikey gasped.

Leo nodded, then turned to smirk at me and Raph. Me and Raph looked at each other.

"Ladies first?" he said teasingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, aren't you a gentlemen?"

"C'mon, Nia!" Mikey yelled. "Whatcha got up your sleeve, girl?"

I chuckled. "Alright," I shook my arms a little to loosen myself up. "Let's see how you boys like _this_!"

I crouched down for a second before sprinting forward. I stepped up on the ledge and leaped off, holding my arms out. I curled up and did several summersaults in the air. I landed on the roof with my three other bros, spinning in a circle and sliding back, almost like a figure-skater sliding on the ice. I grinned at them as I stood up straight, walking up to them with my hands in my pockets.

"Sweet moves!" Donnie jeered.

Leo stared in amazement, and Mikey wolf whistled. I smiled at them as I walked forward, looking across the building at the fourth, remaining turtle.

"Your turn, Raph!" I called to him. "Show us what yah got, bro!"

Raph looked at me, grinning with mischief. He cracked his neck as he took a step back. Then he ran to the ledge, jumped, and shot forward. I had one glance at my bro's smirking face before he crashed into us. I let out a yelp as me and my bros were all knocked down to the ground. I heard Raph laugh as he got off of us. He sat on the ground and smirked at us as the other boys all stood up.

"Not cool, dude," I groaned as I sat up.

"Hey, what was that?" asked Donnie. "You didn't even do any flips."

Raph grinned. "Oops."

Mikey was helping me to my feet when there was a distant noise from somewhere on the roof. We all turned, but didn't see anything. Leo went forward, leaning against the wall. We followed close behind, waiting for him to give us the signal. He held his hand up, telling us to wait. Then he reached back and slowly unsheathed his sword. At once I reached down and took out my tessen as the others took out their weapons. We waited a couple of seconds before jumping out from behind the wall…

And came face-to-face with a little black and white kitten.

The little thing meowed, blinking its large eyes at us. I blinked at the creature as I glanced over at Leo, who looked shocked, surprised, and a little embarrassed.

"Don't give up, Leo," Raph said, mocking encouragement. "You might win this fight."

I rolled my eyes as I sheathed my tessen. I walked over to the kitten, kneeled down, and reached my hand out.

"Hey little buddy. Whatcha doing out here?"

The kitten sniffed my hand for a second before rubbing it head against it. I grinned as I scratched a spot behind its ear.

"Aww! It's a kitty!" I heard Mikey cooing happily.

He lunged forward and picked the little kitty up. He scratched the animal's little chest as he checked the collar.

"And it's name is…"

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess…"

"Mittens!"

"Good guess, Nia!"

"Uh, that wasn't me."

Mikey looked up. "Then who said that?"

I turned and looked around before I saw a human poking his head out of the window of the opposite building.

"Mittens?" he called out.

"I think that's the owner," said Donnie.

At once Mikey quickly stood up and started to walk forward. But I ran forward and stopped him.

"Whoa! Hold it, dude," I warned.

"What?" he asked. "I'm returning Mittens to her owner!"

"Are you an _idiot_?" Raph snapped, then paused. "Wait, let me rephrase that; You're an _idiot_!"

"You can't show yourself to a human!" said Donnie.

"Why not?"

"Because they'll freak the heck out!" Donnie snapped at his younger brother. "_That's _why not!"

"No they won't," Mikey said simply. "I'm not so scary."

"You're an ugly, green mutant armed with ninja weapons!" Raph said harshly.

"Raph!" I snapped, then I turned to Mikey. "Mikey, while I don't entirely agree with Raph, and I personally think you're _adorable_, the others are right. If you reveal yourself to that human, who knows what could happen."

"Look," Mikey said confidently. "The guy's gonna see that I'm a regular, cat-loving dude like him! Next thing you know, we'll be best buds! This is gonna be _awesome_!"

Holding Mittens close to his chest, Mikey turned to leave. But just as he was about to jump, I grabbed his shell.

"Mikey, don't," I said firmly.

"Nia, I just wanna get Mittens-"

"I'll take her back, bro. Okay?"

"What?" all the guys, including Mikey, said in unison.

"Yeah," I said simply. "I'll bring Mittens back to her owner. Piece of cake."

"Are you crazy?" asked Raph.

"Have you boys really forgotten?" I placed my hands on my hips. "Guys, I'm _human_! Out of the five of us, I'm the only one who can afford to be seen by other humans. Look, I'll take Mittens, return her to the owner, and I'll come back. Alright?"

The three older turtles exchanged looks, as though debating their decision. Then Leo sighed, and nodded.

"Go ahead," he said. "But be right back. Understood?"

I giggled and gave a low bow. "Yes, oh great and mighty leader," I teased.

The others chuckled as Leo frowned. I straightened out and turned to Mikey, who was clutching the cat like it was one of his precious comic books.

"C'mon Mikey," I said gently. "Hand her over."

Mikey looked down at Mittens, who leaned up and licked his chin. He smiled and patted the kitten's head. Then he held her forward and I grabbed her.

"I'll be right back," I promised.

I held the kitten close to my chest as I jumped off the ledge and over to the fire escape on the opposite building. I looked up and saw the owner still poking his head out the window, calling for his cat. Not wanting to look like a ninja in front of him, I pulled my mask down under my chin and rolled it up so that it looked like a normal bandanna around my neck or something. I climbed up the stairs of the fire escape, coming closer and closer to the window.

"Excuse me, sir?" I called up to him. "Is this your cat?"

The man turned to look at me, and gasped. "Mittens!"

The cat meowed at her owner. I walked over to the window, holding the cat out to him.

"I found her on the street when you started calling for her," I explained as I handed Mitten to the man. "I figured I might as well return her to you."

"Oh, thank you!" the man said happily. "My daughter will be so pleased that you found her cat!"

"Your daughter?"

"Yes!" the man turned his head. "Vanessa! Get in here!"

After a few seconds I heard footsteps, and a young girl appeared in the doorway. She was tall, about my height. She had short, curly black hair, and small, bright hazel eyes. The second she stepped foot into the room she looked at her father, saw the kitten, and gasped.

"Mittens!"

She squealed happily as she ran forward and took Mitten from her father. She patted her kittens head, kissing her lovingly.

"Oh, daddy! Where did you find her?"

"This young woman found her in the street!"

The girl turned to face me, and instantly jumped forward, pushing her father out of the way.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she said. "I was so worried about my little baby!"

"You're welcome," I said, smiling. "It was no trouble at all."

"I'll go tell your mother we found Mittens," said the father.

The man turned and walked out of the room. Me and the girl watched him until he shut the door. The girl turned to face me, her face beaming. Now that she was close up I could she that she was much older. In fact, she appeared to be about my age, a year older at the most.

"Again, thank you so much!"

"It was nothing, really."

The girl smiled at me, then extended her free hand out to me.

"I'm Vanessa. And you are?"

I blinked, staring down at her hand. Then I grinned and grasped her hand to shake it.

"Lavinia," I told her. "But please, call me Nia."

We shook hands for a second before letting go. The girl started petting her cat as she continued to speak.

"Um… how old are you exactly?" she asked. "If it's not a problem…"

"I'm fifteen," I answered. "And you?"

"Sixteen," she examined me. "Funny… I don't recognize you. Are you new to New York?"

I paused for a moment, choosing my words wisely.

"Well… sort of," I said. "You could say I just moved in."

"Alone?"

"Nah. I'm with my brothers and my dad."

"_Brothers_?" she asked. "As in, more than one?"

"Yep," I nodded. "Four, actually."

"_Four?! _Geez, I can barley handle having one!"

Vanessa stared at me as I chuckled.

"It's not that hard," I said honestly. "Not really. You get used to it after a while."

She stiffened. "I think I'll just take your word for it."

I chuckled a bit, and she giggled. There was a pause.

"Listen, I really appreciate you finding my cat," she said. "And I'd really like to make it up to you."

"Oh, you don't have to," I said quickly.

"Yes I do!" Vanessa grinned. "In fact, I think I know how. You know where Central Park is, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Well, I'm meeting up with my best friend tomorrow night. We meet up there every other night to hang out and have fun. And, as a token of my gratitude, I'd love it if you could come."

I blinked, staring at Vanessa in shock. Was this really happening? Please, pinch me if I'm dreaming!

"S-sure…" I said slowly. "I mean, I'd have to ask my dad first…"

"No problem!" Vanessa said sweetly. "You could call me tonight after you ask him.

I scratched my neck. "I would, but… I don't have a phone…"

Vanessa's jaw fell as she stared at me. I gulped. _So much for that… _Then she reached into one of her pockets and took out a large quarter.

"Here!" she held it out to me, and I took it. "After you ask him, you can use a payphone. Sound good?"

I gazed down at the quarter, then at Vanessa, and a grin spread across my face.

"Sure thing."

Vanessa grinned. Then she reached over to a nearby desk and picked up a small pen. I had a feeling on what she was doing. I lifted my hand to her as she brought the pen over. She then began writing a small group of numbers on my palm.

"Just call me whenever you can!" she said.

I nodded. "Got it."

"Bye Nia!"

"See yah."

I backed away as Vanessa reached up and closed the window. She waved at me before turning to walk out of the room. Still smiling, I turned and jumped off the fire escape, landing neatly on the alley floor.

"You took you're time," Raph's voice said.

I whipped my head around and saw all of my bros standing there. Donnie and Mikey looked normal, Raph was smirking at me, and Leo had his arms folded, looking like an impatient father.

"What?" I asked. "I said I'd be back, didn't I?"

"You didn't say anything about making plans with other humans," said Leo. "What's Splinter gonna say?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Hopefully he'll say yes."

"And you'll get to go have fun with her," Mikey said, now sounding disappointed, and looked at his brothers. "See? Nia gets to go and have fun with a human friend."

"That's because Nia's a human, Mikey," Raph pointed out. "Face it. Humans will _never_ understand you. _Heck! We_ don't even understand you!"

I frowned at Raph as Mikey hung his head.

"Yeah," Mikey glanced up, then gasped, grinning. "But I bet _that _guy would!"

Me and the others turned our heads and looked up. There was a giant billboard that had a pictured of well-known martial artist, Chris Bradford.

"Chris Bradford?" Leo asked. "The martial arts superstar? With a chain of dojos across the country? _He's _your soulmate?"

Mikey didn't respond immediately. He drew out his nunchuck, whirling it as he struck a pose, the same one that Bradford was doing on the billboard.

"We have so much in common!" said Mikey.

"What if you stop standing like that?" Donnie asked, nodding up at the billboard.

"We'll have a little less in common," Mikey slumped for a second, then brightened up. "But still a lot! And look…!" He pointed back up at the billboard. "He's in town for a martial arts expo! Maybe he'll show me his secret kata! _The Death Dragon! _And I'll show him _my_ secret kata! _The Secret Kata!_"

"Catchy," Donnie said dully.

"Check it out!" Mikey said.

He punched, kicked, and did a couple of similar moves a couple of times. He did a couple of odd movements before doing what looked like a windshield wiper movement. He punched his fist one last time, and placed his hands on his hips.

"Now don't tell anyone you say that," he whispered seriously.

"No problem," said Leo.

"Won't tell a soul," I said bluntly.

"Face it, Mikey. Chris Bradford is the last person on earth who would be friends with you," said Raph. "Well… tied for last with everyone else on earth."

I frowned at him as I shoved his shoulder.

"What?"

"Knock it off!" I snapped. "You're not making it any better!"

"Guys," Leo cut us off. "We got company."

I looked in the direction Leo was looking, directly behind Mikey. There were several people dressed in black wearing masks, and they appeared to be armed. Suddenly, several more masked people dropped down and landed all around us.

"Ninjas? In New York?" Donnie asked. "Other than us?"

"And carrying large, lethal weapons?" I added. "This night just took a pretty bad turn."

At once me and my bros took out our weapons. I unsheathed my tessen, opening it. _Be ready for anything, _I told myself. We all stood there, standing in defensive stances, waiting for something. One of the ninjas threw a throwing star at Donnie, who blocked it with his Bo staff. The star embedded itself into the wood, and Donnie let out a growl.

The ninjas then started to charge at us. Two of them headed for me, and I ran at them too. They both swung their weapons(one swung a katana, the other swung a kama), but I kneeled down and ducked before they could hit me. I kicked my foot out and tripped the one with the katana, and blocked the blow the one with the kama tried to deliver. I pushed the weapon away and went to strike the ninja's chest, but he blocked that blow. I quickly kneed him in the gut, punched him in the jaw, and snap kicked him in his chest, sending him back.

But then, out of nowhere, another ninja appeared, landing right in front of us. Only, he was much bigger, and looked way more fierce. He was dressed in armor of red and silver, and wore a helmet that covered his face. Me and my bros froze, staring at the newcomer. The ninja lunged forward, his fist raised, and punched Leo. The turtle flew backwards and his shell hit the wall hard. I gasped as Raph stood, dumbfounded. The huge ninja swung around and kicked Raph hard, sending him flying.

"Raph!" I yelled.

I ran forward as I swung my tessen out. The guy ducked his head to avoid the weapon. I jumped up and tried to kick him, but he grabbed my ankle and threw me. I landed on the concrete and tumbled away. I groaned in pain, holding myself. I heard Donnie yell as he got thrown beside me. After a few moments I looked up, and the ninja was holding Mikey by his shell.

"What are you?" he asked, his voice muffled by the mask.

Mikey pressed his feet to the ninja's chest and back flipped out of his grasp. The guy held onto Mikey's kuasriagama chain, trying to pull him back. Then Leo jumped up and cut the chain with his katana. The large ninja stumbled back. At once I stood up, grabbed my tessen as the boys got into defensive stances once more. I glared at the ninja as I opened my tessen, ready to continue the fight.

At that moment the wailing of police sirens met our ears, and at once, the large ninja and his buddies turned and ran off.

"Come on!" I said quickly. "We better go, too!"

Without any hesitations, we turned and disappeared just as a couple of cop cars pulled up.

* * *

It was the next night, and we were still feeling pretty sore from our fight with the ninjas. I had a bad bruise from where I landed on the concrete after I was thrown, but other than that I was fine. Now, we were all taking the advantage of our day off. Donnie was playing around on his laptop, Mikey was reading a magazine, and Raph was doing pushups using the handles of his sais. Me and April were sitting on the couch, and I had been discussing my plans for that evening.

"So, you're really gonna meet up with this Vanessa girl and her friend tonight?" April asked as she looked up from her magazine.

"Yep," I said. "I asked Master Splinter last night. He had to think about it for a while, but he said yes."

"Cool."

I nodded.

"Wow, that's rad!" I heard Mikey say.

I looked over at him, and saw was sitting in a beanbag chair, reading his own magazine.

"Whatcha reading, Mikey?" I asked.

I leaned over to look at what Mikey was reading, and saw it was an issue of _Martial Pain_. And it had Chris Bradford's picture on the cover.

"Oh, I wish me and Chris Bradford were friends!" he squealed, sounding like an excited little fanboy.

He chomped on the magazine, making noises that sounded like, "Nom, nom, nom!" He fell back on his shell and started kicking his feet like he was having a fanboy heart attack. It was kind of adorable, actually.

"Mikey, you already have a human friend," April smiled, and when Mikey stared blankly at her she added, "Me!"

"April, you don't count," Mikey looked back at his magazine. "We saved your life. You _have _to like us."

I grinned. "He's got a point, April."

April raised her eyebrow. "Well… what about Nia?" she asked Mikey.

"She's our sister. That doesn't count either."

"Geez, thanks," I said bluntly. "Really feeling the love."

"Too bad there's no place for freaks to meet people where no one can see how hideous they are," Raph grunted as he continued doing his pushups.

"Wait… there is! The internet!" said April. "Donnie, can I see your laptop?"

"S-sure! Just a sec!" he said nervously.

Donnie quickly pressed something on his laptop before walking over to us. He gave April his laptop as he sat down next to her, looking nervous.

"Check it out. It's a site where you can make friends with anybody online," April said as she tapped away at the keyboard.

"Sweet!"

Suddenly Mikey shot forward, pushed April out of the way, and grabbed the laptop. He clicked on the tiny search box and tapped away at the keys. He sat there, waiting for a few moments. Then he gasped.

"_Ooh!_ Chris Bradford's on here! He'll be my first friend!"

Mikey moved the mouse to the little button that said 'Friend,' and pressed it. He then leaned in close, gazing at the computer screen. I cleared my throat.

"Uh, Mikey…?"

"Shh! I'm waiting for his response!" he whispered to me, still looking at the screen.

April smiled at him. "Mikey, people don't always respond immedi-"

But she was cut off as a loud _bleep_ sounded from the laptop. April blinked.

"But, sometimes they do," she finished simply.

Mikey sat up, looking like he was going to have a heart attack and a seizer at the same time.

"_No way!_ Chris Bradford has accepted my friendship! _I have a friend!_" he reached over and hugged April tightly. "Thanks April!"

I glanced over at Donnie, and saw he was gapping at his little brother. I giggled. Then Mikey threw the laptop into the air and started to walk off.

"Where are you goin- Hey!"

Donnie yelped as he jumped forward and caught his laptop, landing on his stomach.

"To hang out with my _friend_, Chris Bradford," Mikey said confidently.

"Ah… I don't think that's how it works, Mikey," I told him.

April nodded. "Yeah. Besides, this guy's famous. He probably has thousands of 'friends,'" she said, putting quotes on the last word.

"And guess who's number five thousand, two hundred and eighty-six!"

Me and April looked at each other, then back at Mikey.

"You?" she guessed.

"Lady Gaga?" I asked.

"Daniel Remirez! And I'm right next to him!" Mikey gave a wink and a salute. "Later!"

And without another word, Mikey left.

"Well… this oughta be interesting," said April.

"Should we go after him?" Donnie asked.

"Nah," said Raph, who had paused his pushups. "He's gotta learn somehow."

I sighed, hopping Mikey would be alright. Then, wondering what time it was, I reached down and glanced at the watch I had around my neck. A few days ago I was wondering the sewers, and I found a small watch without a leather wristband. Surprisingly, it was still working. I had taken it home, tied a string around it, and had worn it around my neck since. The time read 6:35. I was suppose to meet Vanessa and her friend in and hour.

"Well, Mikey's left, now I have to go as well," I said as I stood up. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Bye."

"See yah."

I turned and started to walk out of the pit that consisted of our living room.

"Lavinia."

I stopped and turned. Master Splinter was there, walking towards me.

"Hey, Sensei," I said. "I was just about to leave to meet up with Vanessa."

"Yes, I am aware," he looked down at me. "You should know that I'm not fully convinced you should go up there."

I frowned, feeling worried. "But, Sensei, you said I could go."

"I know, Lavinia. And I have no intention of going back on my word. I am simply warning you that anything could happen, and you must be prepared."

"Don't worry, Sensei," I said, and I reached inside the pocket of my hoodie to reveal my tessen. "I've got my tessen with me just in case something does happen. I'll be fine, I promise."

Splinter nodded his head, and smiled at me.

"Very well," he said. "Be safe, my daughter, and have fun."

I beamed. "Thanks, Sensei!"

And without another word I turned and left the lair.

* * *

_Man, this park is beautiful, _I thought to myself. I was currently on my way to where Vanessa told me to go. She said that I should meet her at a monument known as "Rat Rock." I looked it up on Donnie's laptop, and found that it wasn't that hard to find. I was just taking my time because the park was so beautiful, even as the sun started to set.

After a while I finally managed to find "Rat Rock." I glanced at the huge rock for a moment before I noticed two figures standing in front of it. One of them was very familiar.

"Vanessa?" I called out.

One of the figures turned, and I heard a girlish squeal.

"Nia!"

Vanessa turned and sprinted over to me as I continued walking forward. I made sure that my mask was still down as she ran up to me and stopped right in front of me.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could come!" she said happily. "We just got here a couple minutes ago."

"Glad I caught you," I said. "So, who's this friend of yours then?"

"Come on!"

Vanessa grabbed my wrist and started dragging forward toward the rock, where her friend was still standing. Now, I had expected to see young girl, one who was as bright and bubbly as Vanessa was. What I didn't expect to see was a tall, slightly bulky young boy with brown hair and bright green eyes. He also appeared to be a little older than me.

"Nia," Vanessa stopped walking and gestured to the boy. "This is my best friend, Angus Carnell. Angus, this is the girl from last night that I told you about. The one who found my cat."

I grinned as I held out my hand. The boy smiled at me, showing off his very white, even teeth. He took a few steps forward and held out his hand.

"Nice to meet yah," he said.

I blinked, surprised at how… country his voice was. No way he was a true New Yorker!

"Nice meeting you too," I said as I lowered my hand.

"We brought some pizza from Antonio's," said Vanessa. "Let's eat, shall we?"

We all walked over to where they had left the pizza and sat down around the box. Angus took out a piece and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I told him.

"Nessy says that you're new 'round 'ere," he said as he grabbed his own slice. "Said yah just moved in with your family."

_I guess 'Nessy' is short for Vanessa, _I thought.

"Yep. Moved in a couple of weeks ago," I said.

_That's it, Nia, stick to your story. _I took a bit of my pizza slice as the other two started to eat. After a few seconds I decided to speak.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, are new here too?" I asked Angus.

"Not really. Why?"

"Well," I shrugged. "You don't exactly sound like you're from Brooklyn."

Angus snorted. "It's the accent, ain't it?"

I shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, you're right. I wasn't born here. I was born and raised in Montana."

"He moved into the city two years ago," said Vanessa.

"Why'd you move here?" I asked.

"My mama's a lawyer," he said. "Two years ago, when I was 15, she got a job offer she couldn't refuse. Caused us to move to New York. Been livin' here since."

I nodded. "So, you know what it's like to be new here then?"

"Yeah, but it ain't so bad. 'Specially if yah make a friend in the first week."

Angus smiled at Vanessa, who had just taken another bite of her pizza.

"Mhm!" she quickly swallowed her piece. "Me and Angus met at school about a week after he moved in. It was lunch time, and he was just wondering around the cafeteria with nowhere to sit. Looked like a lost little boy."

I giggled as Angus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I guess you could say Nessy was my savin' grace. She called me over to her table, and like the sweetheart she is, she let me sit with her and her friends."

"We've known each other ever since," said Vanessa.

"Cool."

We all stopped talking for a bit as we ate more of our pizza. I munched on my slice, feeling happy that I was having a surprisingly good time.

"So, what about you?" Angus asked. "What's your story?"

I shrugged. "Not much to say. I guess my family just felt like moving."

"Didn't you say you had four brothers?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep," I grinned. "Four overly excited, very protective brothers. Do you guys have any?"

"I have one little brother," said Vanessa. "His name's Colton. He's only five, but he can still be a pain in the butt."

I chuckled. "What about you, Angus?"

He shook his head. "Nah. None yet. I think my folks are tryin' to have another, though. I see the way my mama looks at kids in the park, and I can tell she wants another one."

I smiled. "That sounds lovely."

"Yeah. Yah know, if they have one, I'd like to have a lil' sister," Angus smiled. "I could even teach her how to play."

I raised my eyebrow. "Play?"

"Oh, yeah!" Vanessa piped up. "Didn't I tell you? Angus plays guitar!"

I blinked. "R-really?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Been playing since I was nine."

I stared at him, hardly able to believe it. Not only did I just make two new friends, but one of them actually played guitar, like me!

"What is it, Nia?" asked Vanessa.

"Nothing," I said. "It's just… I play guitar, too!"

Angus and Vanessa stared at me, looking just as surprised as I was.

"Really?" Vanessa grinned. "That's awesome!"

"You're a player?" Angus asked.

"Yep. I've been playing since I was eleven," I said. "My dad taught me how to play."

Angus rubbed his chin. "Yah know… I play my guitar in this spot just about everyday. If yah wanna come by and play with me, yah can."

I paused on my way to take another bite of pizza, and stared at him. Was he really inviting me to come play with him? Was he really?

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I'd like that."

* * *

The next night me and the guys we went back to the place where we were ambushed by the ninjas. Leo figured it was best to scope the place out and find out how the dudes were able to ambush us.

"They must've been watching us from here," said Leo he observed the alley below. "The perfect place to stage an ambush."

"That wasn't very fair, was it?" said Donnie.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

"It's not about fairness," Leo said firmly. "It's about victory."

I stared at him as Donnie held his hands up defensively.

"Okay, I'm _sorry_."

I rolled my eyes as I turned to look at Raph and Mikey. The younger one was still going on about how much fun he had with Chris Bradford. How Mikey even managed to meet that guy, I'll never know.

"And then, Chris Bradford put on his hakama!" Mikey said excitedly. "_Man_, that guy can rock a hakama!"

Raph groaned irritably. "Yeah, maybe he'll wear it again when he takes you to prom," he turned his head and smirked at me. "Then maybe you two can double-date with Nia and _Angus._"

I groaned. "Raph, please don't start…"

That's another thing that's been going on. See, after I got home last night the guys all asked me how it went. Like me, they thought that Vanessa's friend was a girl, and they were all shocked to find out that it was a boy. They were surprised even more when I told them that he played guitar just like me. When I told them how Angus invited me to play in the park with him however, their expressions all changed. I swear, they all had on the biggest smirks I had ever seen them have, and they have been teasing me nonstop since.

"Anyways! Where was I?" Mikey continued, oblivious to me and Raph. "And then, after that, he-!"

"Aw, _enough_!" Raph finally snapped. "You've been going on about his for _three hours_!"

Mikey smirked as he got into his older brother's face. "Ooh, someone sounds jealous… You just can't admit that you were the R word!"

Me and Raph stared at him. Even Leo and Donnie turned to look at the younger sibling.

"The R word…?" I asked unsurely.

"_Wrong_!" Mikey said simply.

I sighed as all of the boys groaned with irritation. Raph huffed.

"I'm not wrong!"

"Oh yeah? If _you _don't wanna talk about my friend…" Mikey jumped over to me and the others. "I've got two other brothers and one sis who _do_."

"Actually, I'd rather talk about _anything else_," said Leo.

"Like the concept of the silent W, perhaps?" Donnie suggested.

Mikey looked over at me, waiting for a response. I bit my lip as I shuffled my feet.

"Well… no offense Mikey," I started. "But you've been talking about Bradford since you got home last night. I think I've heard enough."

Mikey's face fell. "Fine. Heh… I'll go talk to a guy who likes to talk about Chris Bradford more than anyone else. Chris Bradford."

"Mikey…"

But he ignored me, and jumped off the building and left.

"He ditched us," I said skeptically.

"Eh, let him leave," said Raph. "More peace and quiet for us."

"Yeah, I suppose."

I sighed as I walked over and sat next to Raph. He nudged my shoulder.

"So, when are yah gonna introduce us to your _boyfriend_?"

"Enough, Raphael!"

* * *

I had no idea what to expect when Mikey got home that night. But him bursting in saying that Chris Bradford had shown him _The Death Dragon_ kata wasn't on the list. Nevertheless, it was pretty awesome seeing Mikey show it to us.

"And then he kicks…! He twists…! And…sweeps the leg…! Ha!"

Mikey spun, kicked, and did everything that he said. Me and the boys stared at him, very much impressed. Well, except for Raph.

"_The Death Dragon_!" Mikey said excitedly.

"Mikey…that is so wicked!" I exclaimed.

"That was amazing!" said Leo.

"Yeah," Donnie said thoughtfully. "It's devastatingly effective and… complex."

"And yet, even Mikey can learn it," Raph pointed out.

Mikey bowed. "Thank you," but then he seemed to get what Raph was saying, and frowned. "Hey!"

But at that moment, Donnie's laptop made a loud _bleep_, gathering Mikey's attention. He looked over his shoulder.

"It's Rad-Brad!" he said as he knelt in front of the laptop. "That's my little name for him."

"What did he say?" I asked as I looked over Mikey's shoulder to look at the screen.

"He wants to get to together for a little B-ball," Mikey looked excited. "I can't wait to find out what the B stands for!"

I raised my brow. "Last I checked, it meant basketball."

Mikey didn't answer me. Instead he typed in a reply, hit send, and stood up.

"You're going now?" Leo asked.

"Sorry dudes! Human friend stuff," Mikey shrugged. "You know how it is. Oh, wait… No, yah don't."

Mikey smirked at us before turning around and walking out.

"Snobbish much?" I grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Raph said, and he stood up straight. "Well, I'm wanting to try that kata. Who's in?"

"Me!" said Leo.

"You guys have fun," I said. "I'll be right back."

I left the boys in the lair and headed for the kitchen. Once there I grabbed a cup and filled it with water.

"Lavinia."

I paused my drinking and looked around. Splinter was standing by the table, looking as though he were observing.

"Oh, hey Sensei," I said. "Are you looking for Mikey? He just left to go meet Bradford."

"Yes, he told me just before he left," said Sensei. "It seems that he is not the only one having fun with new friends. Your brothers tell me that you had fun the other night with your new friend. Vanessa, wasn't it?"

"Yep. She's so nice, and totally cool, Sensei. Her friend was, too."

"Who was her friend?"

"A really awesome dude," I took a sip from my glass. "His name's Angus. Oh, and guess what? He plays guitar too!"

"Does he?" Sensei asked, sounding interested.

"Yeah. He plays in Central Park almost every other day. He even invited me to come and play with him sometime," I bit my lip and shuffled my feet. "Would…would that be alright, Sensei?"

Sensei closed his eyes, stroking his long beard slowly. I swallowed as I waited for his answer. _C'mon, please say yes…_

"Very well," he said finally.

I released the small breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

"Thank you, Sensei."

Splinter smiled at me, apparently pleased. Then he looked over his shoulder.

"Where are your other brothers, Lavinia?"

"Oh, they're in the dojo," I said. "Mikey's new friend showed him this awesome kata, and the boys are trying it out right now. You wanna see?"

"Hm…Why not?"

I smiled and put my glass on the counter. I walked out of the kitchen and Sensei followed me to the dojo.

"Just you wait, Sensei," I told him. "This kata is the most wicked thing I've ever seen. You might even be impressed."

Splinter chuckled. "We shall see, Lavinia."

Curious to know if the boys had managed to get the kata right yet, I went ahead and entered the dojo.

"Wait! I think I got it!" I heard Leo say.

Leo and Raph faced each other. They went at each other just as Sensei entered the dojo, and Leo succeeded the kata. I glanced over at Splinter, but I was surprised. Sensei looked as though he had seen a ghost. A second later his face fell, and it was full of anger.

"_Where did you learn_ _that?_" he snapped.

I cringed. The boys froze and turned to look at Splinter.

"Mikey learned it from his new friend," Leo explained.

"The man who taught him that kata is no friend," Splinter said firmly. "It comes from the Shredder."

I gasped. _What?!_

"Shredder?" Donnie breathed.

"You mean… Bradford is one of his students?" Leo asked.

Splinter nodded. "He _must_ be."

"So, Bradford is just _pretending _to be Mikey's friend to get to _you_," Leo said slowly.

"Oh, what a relief," Raph sighed. "Everything makes sense again."

I turned to stare at him. Raph paused for a moment, then his eyes widened.

"Mikey's in trouble!"

* * *

It wasn't that hard to find Bradford's dojo. Me and my bros were in full stealth mood the whole time we where there. I went to the roof first, landing neatly by the dojo skylight. I quickly walked up to it and looked inside. Mikey was in there all right, and he was tied up with his hands in feet behind his back.

"Mikey…"

I turned around, cupped my hands around my mouth, and did a quiet, but decent bird call. A second later I saw Raph swing around the water tower, slide down the latter, and run up to the end of the skylight that I was on. He leaned against the glass and folded his arms. I looked up to see Leo sliding down the glass and landing on the roof. He ran over to where me and Raph where, and folded his arms too. They bumped fists, and wiggled their fingers together. Donnie slide down the glass and landed next to us, too.

"You got the gum, right?" I asked him.

He grinned at me as he continuously chewed on a piece of gum. _I guess that's a yes._ Donnie blew a bubble, popped it, and took it out. He placed the sticky wad on the end of a pencil that was attached to a compass. He placed the gum-covered pencil on the glass, turned the compass, and lightly punched the glass. A perfect circle popped out and Donnie moved it out of the way. He reached inside for a moment before he finally unlocked the skylight.

Me and Leo slowly opened the skylight door. We all took out the ropes we brought, slide them inside, and one by one, we each went down a rope. The second we hit the floor we sprinted towards the ninjas that were guarding Mikey. I ran up to the nearest ninja, and slide forward with my leg out the trip him. He fell to the floor and punched him to make sure he was unconscious. When he didn't move I stood up and saw that my bros had taken care of the other three ninjas.

"Dudes!" Mikey exclaimed. "That was sporadic!"

"Shh!" me, Leo and Raph hissed.

"That's not what that means," Donnie whispered.

Leo kneeled in front of Mikey, took out a tanto blade, and used it to cut Mikey's binds. Mikey sat up, and Leo patted his head.

"You okay, bro?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Good," I said. "Then let's get out of here."

With that said and done, we finally left the dojo. Leo was taking the manhole cover off when I froze.

"Guys," I whispered. "I think… someone's watching us."

They all froze as well. Then Leo continued to move the cover.

"Stay in stealth," he whispered. "Don't go straight to the lair. As soon as we're in, find somewhere to hide and wait. You'll know what to do."

We nodded. One by one, we all jumped through the hole and into the sewers. We all quickly found a place to hide in the shadows, and waited.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, Bradford and a large group of ninjas showed up. With them was a man I had never seen before. It was a tall, thin black guy with and afro. I had no idea who he was, but he was obviously working with Bradford.

I crouched lower into the shadows as Bradford and his friend passed by. When the ninjas passed by however, I would reach out and snatch them, then I would knock them out. I watched silently as I saw my bros do the same thing, taking the ninjas one by one. Oblivious to the disappearing ninjas, Bradford and his friend continued to head for the sewer clearing. Slowly and stealthily, me and my bros followed.

Finally, the last ninja was snatched, and Bradford and the afro dude finally turned. Judging by the looks on their faces, they seemed to have just realized that something was up. The afro dude took out a flare and lit it up. It lit the room up enough for them to see their party of ninjas hanging from ropes on the ceiling.

"Show your faces!" the afro dude said in a thick, Brazilian accent.

There was a pause. From here I could see Leo and Raph's shells poke out of the water. They swam up to the center of the pool before standing up, glaring at Bradford and the afro dude. Me, Mikey and Donnie emerged from the darkness and walked towards them from behind.

"They've trapped us!" the afro dude exclaimed.

"Take 'em down!" Bradford ordered.

And the fight started. Bradford went for Leo and Raph while the afro dude headed for me and the other two. Donnie tried to fight him first, swinging his Bo staff at him. The dude did a hand stand and lifted his legs up, blocking all of Donnie's blows with his feet. Donnie tried to swing again, but the dude pushed himself up into the air. His feet landed around Donnie's neck, and he used his legs to flip Donnie over. Donnie was tossed to the side, landing on top of Mikey. I stood in front of Mikey and Donnie, holding my tessen out in defense. The afro dude smirked at me.

"Interesting," he growled. "Bradford mentioned the four freaks, but he never said they had a friend who was so… pretty."

The look on his face made me want to puke. I let out a noise of annoyance. From behind me I heard Donnie snap his fingers. _Time for the plan. _Without hesitation, I ran at the afro man for my attack. I made an effort to his him with the end of my tessen, but he managed to grab my wrist. He tried to punch my gut, but I shifted aside, and kneed him in his chest. He let go of my wrist and I retreated back towards my younger bros. The afro dude ran at us, but me and the boys ran at the wall, climbed up, and flipped so that we were now behind the dude. We ran backwards into the water, our opponents following us, we switched up with Leo and Raph. They now had the afro dude, and me and the others had Bradford.

Me and the other two continued to back up, and slid under a large sewer pipe, causing the punch Bradford tried to deliver to hit the said pipe. Mikey jumped onto the pipe, and Bradford tried to punch him in the chest. But Mikey wrapped the chain of his nunchuck around Bradford's wrist and jumped down behind the pipe, leaving the fist useless. Donnie stuck his staff underneath the pipe and hit Bradford's legs, causing the man to fall to his knees. Before he could really do anything much I reached forward and punched him in the face.

Bradford slipped out of Mikey's hold and started to back up. Mikey walked towards him, whirling his nunchuck. They continued until he was back to back with the afro dude, and they were both standing in front of the large sewer tunnel.

"They knew we were following them!" said Bradford.

"That's right," Mikey said smugly.

Bradford growled, then yelled as he went to throw a punch at Mikey. Mikey blocked it, then blocked another. I stared openmouthed as I watched the fight continued. Mikey was beating Bradford, and was using the dude's own kata! _Awesome_!

"And sweep the leg!" Mikey said as he finished the kata, and knocked Bradford over.

The man yelled as he fell back and landed on top of the afro dude.

"Hit it!" Mikey yelled.

I looked over at the opposite edge of the sewer clearing, and saw Donnie and Leo standing there. They turned the wheel, and there was a loud rumble from the large sewer pipe. Bradford and the afro guy screamed as a wave of raw sewage came rushing out of the large pipe, flushing them away.

"Well," Raph smirked. "That didn't seem very fair."

"It wasn't," said Leo.

We looked at each other, and we all started laughing.

"High-three!" cried Mikey.

We all raised our hands and they met in a high-three.

* * *

At long last, we were home. And, as expected, we were celebrating with a large order of delicious pizza. I was sitting on the floor eating one of my two slices, when I noticed something odd. Sensei wasn't eating. Donnie seemed to have noticed this, too.

"Um… Sensei? Aren't you hungry?" he asked.

Splinter didn't say anything at first. He sat there, stroking his beard.

"I fear we are celebrating too soon," he said lowly.

"Too soon?" asked Raph. "The bad guys were swept away in a river of raw sewage. By my watch, that's the perfect time."

I had a feeling that that wasn't going to convince Splinter. Sensei stood up, walking towards us.

"Shredder knows I'm alive. And worse, he knows about all of you," he turned his head. "It's my worse nightmare come true."

"So, it's not over?" Leo asked.

Sensei shook his head. "Oh, no… It's just beginning."

We all stared at our sensei, then we hung our heads.

"Well, this is just great," I grumbled, and when I glanced up I saw we were missing and orange-banded turtle. "Hey, where's Mikey?"

"He's over there," Donnie said, pointing in a direction.

I turned my head, and I saw Mikey on the other side of the pit. He was sitting on the floor, looking at the laptop that was sitting on the couch. I looked at him sadly. _Poor boy… _Making my decision, I picked a piece of pizza, stood up, and walked over to where Mikey was sitting.

"Mikey…" I spoke gently. "You're missing out on some totally awesome pizza…"

Mikey turned his head to look up at me, and he had a sad look on his face.

"No thanks," he said lowly.

I frowned. I glanced at the computer, and saw it was the site where he sent his friend request to Bradford. I heard footsteps, and I saw Raph walk up and sit on the couch next to the laptop.

"How yah doin', Mikey?"

Mikey turned to face his older brother. "This is all my fault. I should've never thought I could be friends with a human."

"Aw, Mikey, don't say that," I said, patting his shell.

"Yeah, don't be so hard on yourself," said Raph.

"So, it's not my fault?"

Raph stared. "Of course it's your fault!"

Mikey sighed. Raph looked at Mikey, then at me, and leaned in towards his brother.

"If you tell the others, I'll beat the green off you," he threatened, but his face softened as he put a hand on Mikey's shell. "But… you're an awesome guy."

"Bradford didn't think so."

Raph shrugged. "Eh… he's a psychotic, killing machine."

"Who kidnapped you, and tried to kill us," I added. "You're better off without him."

"Nia's right," Raph folded his arms. "You deserve _way_ better friends than him."

Mikey glanced at the floor. "You know what… you're right!" he looked up at us. "Thanks, guys."

"Anytime," Raph said, patting Mikey's head.

Raph stood up on his feet and started to leave, but stopped. He turned to look at me, and smirked.

"That bit about not telling the others what I said," he told me. "That goes for you, too."

I giggled. "Scout's Honor, Raphie," I vowed mockingly, lifting my hand up.

Raph chuckled as he rolled his eyes, and then walked away. I smiled after him as I turned to look down at Mikey.

"You good, bro?"

"Just a sec!"

Mikey turned to look at the computer screen. Then he lifted his hand up, brought it down, and pressed a button on the keyboard.

"_Unfriend!_" he declared. "Ha ha! Revenge!"

I rolled my eyes. _Well, at least he's happy again._

"Here you go, Mikey," I handed him the pizza slice. "A good ol' slice of revenge pizze, specially made."

"Awesome!"

Mikey grabbed the pizza, and shoved have of it into his mouth.

"Thanks, Nia!" he said through his full mouth.

I laughed. "No problem, bro."


	10. I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman

Ch. 5  
I Think His Name Is Baxter Stockman

_Relax, Nia, _I told myself. _It's meditation for Christ's sake. It's suppose to be a calming experience. Just stay focused… Did I just hear something?_

"You're not focused, Lavinia."

I opened my eyes to look at Sensei. He was sitting across from me, his legs crossed over, already in his deep meditation position.

"Sorry, Sensei," I said sheepishly.

Splinter looked down at me. "What troubles you, my child?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I just can't seem to focus lately. It's like every little thing or noise just captures my attention, and I don't know why."

Sensei closed his eyes, stroking his beard. "Hm… It is possible that your senses are becoming more adapted to your surroundings, therefore, it is able to sense even the smallest noise or movement. These things tend to happen as you grow older. But, you must learn to block out all distractions as this continues, and remain focused on the task at hand."

I nodded. "Hai, Sensei."

He smiled. "Again."

I nodded. I closed my eyes, inhaled slowly through my nose, and slowly back out. _Okay… don't get distracted… clear your mind… focus… focus…_

Suddenly there was a loud yell from the other room. I gasped and opened my eyes, and so did Sensei. We both turned to face the exit of the dojo. Whatever the boys were up to, it was causing a lot of noise. I glanced over at Sensei, and I could see clear annoyance on his face.

"Uh… hold on, Sensei!" I said as I quickly got to my feet. "I'm just gonna… um… yeah."

I turned on my heel and sprinted out of the dojo. _Damn it, guys! What are you up to now? _I walked into the living room, and froze. The place was a complete wreck. Soda cans and empty pizza boxes scattered the floor, some of the boxes having a pizza slice hanging out of them. Right in the center of the room was what looked like a huge makeshift ramp. At the end was Raph, Donnie, and Leo, all crouched on the floor in a row. At the top of the ramp was Mikey, skateboard in hand, and a smile on his face.

"And now, The Kid goes for the world record!" Mikey yelled. "He will attempt to jump three mutant turtles!"

"I can't believe he talked us into this," I heard Raph growl.

I let out an irritated groan as I shook my head.

"Guys! I just cleaned this place last night!"

They all turned to look at me, shocked expressions on their faces.

"H-hey, Nia," Donnie said nervously. "Um, sorry about the mess."

"What the heck are you doing?!" I hissed.

"Mikey's doing skate tricks," said Leo.

"We, on the other hand, are pretending to be road kill," said Raph.

I groaned. "Guys, Splinter is right in the other room. If he sees you, you're dead!"

"Relax, Nia!" Mikey put his skateboard into position at his feet. "We'll fine!"

I shook my head. "Mikey, don't-!"

"BOOYAKASHA!"

Before I could say more Mikey leaped onto his board. He sped down the ramp, and I started to back up from fear of being hit.

"What is going on in here?!"

I gasped, and turned around. Master Splinter was standing there, a look of anger on his face.

"Sensei!" Leo called fearfully.

I turned my head around in time to see Mikey crash into the others, who had all stood up when Sensei had yelled. I looked up and saw that Mikey's skateboard had flown off and was heading right for me. I gasped and held my arms up to keep it from hitting my face. But it didn't hit me at all. I opened my eyes and saw Sensei holding the skateboard in front of my face. He had stopped it. He threw the skateboard on the ground as he marched over to his sons, who were still laying in a pile on the ground.

"How many times have I told you _not _to skateboard in the lair?"

"None, Sensei…" Mikey said lowly.

"I shouldn't _have_ to tell you!" Splinter snapped.

All of the boys got off of each other and quickly got up to their feet.

"You're right, Sensei," Leo said as he and the others glared at Mikey. "We _definitely _should've known better, and we deserve to be punished… some," he added quickly.

Sensei stroked his beard musingly, narrowing his eyes towards his sons.

"Lavinia."

I straightened up as I walked up next to Splinter.

"Yes, Sensei?"

"Seeing as how you were the only one who did not participate in this foolishness, you should be the one to give your brothers a fitting punishment."

I blinked. _Is he serious?_

"Wha…I…"

I didn't know what to say. I glanced over at the boys. Raph was pretending to read a comic, Donnie was whistling casually, Mikey was examining his fingers, and Leo was giving me a 'help us out' sort of look. I gulped. _Jesus, why me?_

"Well…this room is a complete wreck," I said finally. "So, obviously, they should clean up the mess."

I glanced up at Sensei, who had his arms folded, waiting for more. _Okay, think! Something that's not weak, but not too strong._

"And… they shouldn't be allowed… to go to the surface," I said. "For tonight."

The boys stared at me, looking slightly relieved. Splinter, however, still appeared to be waiting for more.

"And…tomorrow night?" I asked, hopefully.

Sensei closed his eyes. "Hm… very fitting."

I sighed. _Thank God…_

"But not fitting enough," Splinter turned to look at his sons. "What about being grounded for a week?"

I blinked. _Seriously? _It seemed that the boys were thinking the same thing, because they all shook their heads.

"Oh on, I don't think that's…"

"I'm cool with just two days."

"Really, that's not necessary."

"Yeah, maybe next time."

I shook my head. _Should've kept your mouth shut, boys._

"You're grounded for a week!" Sensei declared.

"Aww…!" the boys groaned in unison.

There was a creaking sound, and suddenly the makeshift ramp leaned over and collapsed to the floor in a puff of dust. The boys all flinched, then stiffened.

"And you will clean up your mess!" Sensei added sharply.

Folding his hands behind his back, Splinter turned and started to head for the dojo.

"Lavinia," he said. "Come. We must resume your meditation section."

"Hai, Sensei."

I glanced over at the boys, who all looked miserable.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I really tried, but…"

"It's okay," said Leo. "Don't worry about it. He probably would've made it worse if you hadn't given us two days."

"Yeah, don't blame yourself, Nia," said Donnie.

"Besides, it's Mikey's fault," Raph pointed out.

Mikey glared. "Hey!"

"Lavinia, come," I heard Splinter repeat.

"Coming!"

And, giving my bros one last sad look, I turned and followed Sensei back to the dojo.

* * *

Despite the face that I wasn't punished, I didn't feel right going up to the surface without any of my bros. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I chose to stay in the sewers with them. But, I'll admit, I never realized how boring it could get now that we knew we could have some real fun on the surface.

I sprawled on my back on the floor behind Leo, who was sitting on the couch. Mikey was sitting next to me, reading a comic. I was leaning next to him, reading the comic along with him. Raph was pacing in front of the couch, groaning with aggravation.

"Gah! This bites!" he snapped. "I can't believe we're stuck down here for a whole week!"

"Well," I propped myself up on my elbows. "Maybe if you guys didn't make a mess of the place, we'd all be out on the surface right now."

"But it was Mikey's fault!" said Raph.

"Hey!"

"Shut it, Mikey," said Leo.

"Guys, guys!" Donnie said excitedly as he ran into the room. "You wanna see what I made?"

Raph gestured to Donnie. "_This _is how board I am," he looked at his younger brother. "Yes, Donnie. I _do_."

"Okay! Okay, okay… Remember, the other day, I was scrounging in that military junkyard?"

Leo, Raph, and Mikey all shook their heads and said, "no." But I nodded and said, "yes." The three boys turned, staring at me.

"What?" I shrugged. "He told me where he was going."

"Well," Donnie continued. "I found an incredibly advanced AI microchip made from… heheh, get this! Self-assembled, chain-linked copolymers!"

We all blinked, staring at him.

"That's my favorite kind of copolymer!" said Mikey, but then he whispered to me, "Not really."

"_Mine too!_" Donnie was practically screaming with delight, bouncing on his toes with excitement. "And I used it to make _this_!"

Donnie reached behind him and pulled out a small, hand sized object. It was made of silver and glowing bright blue in the middle.

"The most advanced music _player in the world_!"

At once we all jumped to our feet and ran up to examine the object closer.

"Whoa…" we all breathed.

"So, who wants to try it?" Donnie asked, and he looked at me. "What about you, Nia?"

I grinned. "Sure, I-"

"Nia!" Mikey piped up. "Can I try it first? Please, please, _please_...?"

Mikey was staring up at me with his puppy, his lip puckered out. I chuckled. _How can I say no to that face?_

"Sure, Mikey."

"Sweet!" Mikey clapped his hands. "Toss me the T-Pod!"

Donnie blinked. "The…T-Pod?"

"Turtle… Pod… T-Pod," Mikey chuckled. "I am so good at naming stuff."

Donnie handed Mikey the T-Pod. Mikey took the earbuds and stuck them into his ear slits underneath his mask.

"You're really gonna plug an advanced piece of military technology directly into Mikey's head?" Raph asked Donnie. "What if it melts his brain?"

"It won't," Donnie folded his arm. "And even if it did, who'd know the difference?"

"I would," I stated.

We all remained quiet as we watched Mikey. His finger slowly lowered to the play button, and he pressed it. He then fell to his knees, reared his head back, and screamed in what appeared to be agony. It wasn't a good scream, either. It pierced my ears, making them hurt.

"Bloody hell!" I yelled as I covered my ears.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Donnie asked fearfully.

"_It's polka!_" Mikey cried. "Make it stop! _Make it stop…!_"

I stared at Mikey as Donnie walked over to him, looking annoyed. He raised his hand and pressed the next button, and Mikey's agony-filled expression faded.

"Thanks," Mike told Donnie, who rolled his eye as he walked back over to us.

Suddenly, Mikey's eyes went wide, and he sighed with relief and satisfaction. Slowly, he stood up on the ground, and started busting out some moves. He moved from left to right, moving his arms and his hips. I covered my mouth, but that didn't stop me from giggling like a madwoman. I glanced over at the other three, and I saw Donnie and Leo staring in confusion. Raph looked… well, let's just say he didn't look amused in any way. When he next spoke, his voice practically scream, "I give up."

"That's it. I gotta get outta here."

"Where are you going?" Leo asked, following his brother. "We're grounded."

"I don't care! I gotta do something or I'm gonna go nuts!" Raph stomped on his skateboard, which was launched into the air, and he caught it. "Let's find a skate spot."

"Skate spot?" Mikey yelled over his music. "I'm totally in!"

"But what's Splinter gonna say?" Leo asked.

"I don't know what's going on, because they snuck out while I was asleep!" Raph said, mimicking Splinter's voice.

I giggled as Leo snorted.

"Real mature," he folded his arms. "But I'm your leader. And as your leader, I say nobody's going."

But I had a feeling Leo's words didn't mean anything to the boys. The fact that Donnie and Mikey walked up to stand next to Raph didn't help his case, either.

"Well, as your followers, we're going anyway," Raph said bluntly.

Leo turned to look at me. "A little help?"

"Pff! I'm a neutral party, dude," I raised my hands up in surrender. "I go where everyone else goes. And it looks like were going skateboarding."

Raph smirked. "See? You're out numbered, Leo."

"Well, as your leader…" Leo paused, looking conflicted. "…I'm going with you… to lead you… away… from bad… stuff…"

I snorted. "Nice leadership, dude."

Suddenly Mikey screamed and collapsed on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"It's back to _polka_!" Mikey whined, then he frowned at Donnie. "You gotta get some more tunes on this!"

* * *

One thing I always loved doing with my bros; skateboarding. Ever since we even found out what skateboarding was, me and the guys have loved it. Out of the five of us, Mikey was the real skating king of the group, but we were all very good at it. And my skateboard is so cool! It was solid black, had a blue and green butterfly on it, along with a few heart-shaped music notes all over it.

We were all running across the rooftops, our skateboards strapped to our backs. Well, all of us, except for Mikey. He was currently skateboarding across the rooftops, while listening to the T-Pod. I knew that he knew what he was doing, but that didn't stop me from looking behind my shoulder to make sure he was okay.

"Hey, Donnie!" Mikey shouted below to a lower rooftop, where the other three boys were running. "Thanks for all the new songs!"

"Wait… What new songs?" Donnie asked.

"Keep it down, you guys!" Leo hissed.

As expected, none of us responded to him. Donnie jumped up, landing in a handstand on Mikey's shoulders. He squinted down at the T-Pod, and stared.

"What the…?"

"What's wrong, D?" I asked him.

"It's the T-Pod. It's got thousands of new songs and it keeps downloading new ones every second!"

"So?" Raph asked as he jumped up to the same level as us.

"So, I didn't program it to do that!" Donnie jumped off of Mikey's shoulders and ran along side us. "It's reconfiguring itself somehow…" then he gasped. "It's that chip!"

"Whatever it is!" Mikey rode up a skylight and launched himself into the air as he shouted over his music, "It's _awesome_…!"

"Guys!" Leo hissed angrily from the lower level. "We're ninjas! Remember? We move swiftly, and- here's the important part- _silently_!"

But suddenly, Leo yelled as he accidentally ran off the building. We ran up and skidded to the edge of the building and looked down. Leo had fallen through a skylight. I heard crashes and bangs coming from the building before he fell through the far end of the skylight. He then fell over the building and fell onto the fire escape, stumbling and tumbling painfully down until he fell off the escape, and landed in a dumpster. I hissed, winching slightly. _You know that had to hurt. _All the boys flinched as well, but Raph had a gleeful smirk on his face the whole time.

"That wasn't very _silent_, Leo!" Raph called down to his brother.

After Leo was recovered from the dumpster, we continued to look for a good skate spot. After a while, we finally found a good spot just outside the TCRI facility.

"Check it out," Raph nodded at the stair and handrails.

"Let's grind it!" Mikey said excitedly.

But just as we were about to jump down there, I heard loud noises. Like banging metal.

"Who the heck is that guy?" Donnie said.

I turned my head, and saw a man walking down the street. He appeared to be wearing a pink sweater, but I could barley see it under the weird, metal armor he was wearing.

"I don't know," Raph frowned. "But he needs a beat down."

"Hold on, Raph," said Leo. "We don't know if he's gonna do anything wrong. He… he could be on his way to… church."

"Wearing powered battle armor?" Raph asked skeptically. "What kinda church is that?"

"A really _awesome_ one," said Mikey.

I shrugged. "I admit, I'd go to a church if it was that cool."

Leo face palmed. "Look, it's my call. I decide who gets a beat down."

But just as he finished speaking, we saw the man started using what looked like a built-in blowtorch on the backdoor of the TCRI building.

"That guy needs a beat down," Leo stated.

"Why am I not surprised?" I asked.

We ran up to the edge of the building and jumped down. By the time we got down the man was groaning in frustration. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble opening the door. He bent down and tried to force the door open, but to no avail.

"It's just kind of sad," Donnie said simply.

"Yeah," Mikey looked at the man sadly. "I don't know if we should pound him or buy him an ice-cream cone."

I nodded. "I could go for some ice-cream."

Leo unsheathed his katanas, point them at the man. "Halt, villain!"

The man turned, surprised. But we were too busy staring at Leo to really notice.

"_Halt, villain_?" Raph snapped. "_When_ did we start talking like that?"

Leo blinked. "We're heroes, that's… that's how heroes talk."

I sighed. "I'm pretty sure we're not _those kinds_ of heroes, Leo."

The man pointed his blowtorch at us. "You will feel the fury of my powered battle- Holy cow!" he gasped. "You guys are turtles!"

"That's right!" Leo jeered. "We're the _Turtles of Justice_!"

I face palmed. _Really, Leo? Really?_

"Wow…" Raph stared at his older brother. "I mean, just…_wow_."

The guy in the armor ignored us, and charged. I unsheathed my tessen and began to charge at the man along with the boys, but-

"_Wait!_" Mikey cried.

We all froze in mid-charge, staring at him. Mikey hummed happily as he removed his earbuds and wrapped the cord around the T-Pod. He tucked the item into his belt, took out his nunchuck. He whirled once and held both ends in his hands.

"Okay."

Mikey jumped up and leaped over the guy as he smacked his armored head with his nunchucks. Donnie rode up on his skateboard and jumped onto the guy's shoulders. He stuck his Bo staff into some wires on the helmet, and yanked them apart. He jumped off and landed back on his skateboard. Raph rode up and jumped over the guy, still on his skateboard. He used is sai to cut through more of the wirings as he landed back on the ground. I tossed my skateboard on the ground, jumped on it, and rode forward. The man tried to take a swing at me, but I ducked and swung my tessen up at his torso. It sliced through the metal front of his armor. I laughed as I jumped, flipping my skateboard, and then landing back on it.

I turned my board around and looked back at the man, and saw several pieces of his armor on the ground. Leo must've sliced them off. The man stumbled back into a door, his elbow braking through the glass. At once an alarm sounded, ringing like mad. It seemed to pierce my ears, and my head began to throb.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

The guys didn't answer immediately. Then Raph, who was standing on the dumpster, opened one of the lids, gesturing inside. He didn't have to say anything, we already knew what he meant. All four boys ran up to the man, picked him up, and started to bring him over. I held the lid of the dumpster opened as they threw him inside.

"You're not the first to ever throw me in the trash!" he yelled. "But I swear that you will be the la-"

_BAMB!_ The man was cut off as Raph slammed the lid shut. Suddenly blue and red lights began to flash.

"Aw snap! It's the popo!" Mikey shouted.

"Let's move!" said Leo.

And just like that, we were gone.

* * *

I looked over the area, making sure that it was empty. I sighed as I slowly and quietly walked into the living room.

"Finally," I breathed.

Just then there was the sound of turning water. I looked over to see Leo's head sticking out of the pool. He and the boys had taken the path that took them below water, while I stayed on the dry path.

"Hey, dude," I whispered as I walked up to him.

"Hey," he whispered.

He slipped out of the water just as I saw the other three swimming up.

"Alright! We made it home!" Raph said a little too loudly.

"Shh!" Leo hissed. "It's 2am!"

"And Splinter's still asleep," Mikey grinned. "This is _epic_."

"It's not epic!" Leo snapped. "It was really bad idea!"

"No it wasn't!" Raph leaped up and landed on the beanbag. "We got out there and stomped a sleaze-ball. So, what's the problem?"

I rolled my eyes. _Only you, Raph. _I glanced over at Mikey, and was surprised to see a worried expression on his face.

"You okay, Mikey?" I asked him.

"Huh? Oh!" Mikey cleared his throat. "Y-yeah! Yeah, I'm cool."

I raised my eyebrow. Then shrugged. _Eh, probably nothing._

* * *

The next morning was, as we probably should've guessed, miserable. We all could barely keep our eyes open. Needless to say, it showed in our training.

"Knees higher, Leonardo!" I heard Splinter snap. "Extend, Michelangelo!"

Me and Donnie faced each other, currently sparring. Or, at least, _attempting _to spar. Donnie let out a loud yawn, and then made to punch me. But it was a pathetic punch, and I slide out of the way.

"More power in your strikes, Donatello!" Splinter said.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to keep them open. I went up to Donnie, held my arms out, but I didn't really know what I was doing. Donnie grabbed my arms, and used his foot to kick my legs, knocking me to the ground.

"Defend your legs, Lavinia!"

I groaned as I reached up to grab Donnie's foot. I pulled, and he went falling. He yelped as he fell, but he ended up yawning tiredly.

"_Yame_!"

I gasped. _Oh, dear… _I quickly sat up and got in a line with the others. We all took a knee as Sensei stood before us, arms behind his back.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" he said in his 'I know exactly what you've done, so don't make it worse' voice.

"Something we _wanna _tell you?" Mikey asked. "Heh… Nope."

"You all seem tired."

_Oh great!_

"We're not!"

"Wide awake!"

"Fresh as daisies!"

"Couldn't be better!"

We paused, and waited for Mikey to add something. But instead, he let out a loud yawn, and collapsed to the floor. Sensei's eyes narrowed. Then he stood directly in front of me, and looked me dead in the eye.

"Lavinia…?"

I gulped. _He'll know if I'm lying, _I thought. _I can't lie to him. But…what about the guys? _I bit down on my lip, trying to think of something to sa y- anything to say. I stared up at Sensei, no doubt giving him my 'I'm sorry' face. I sighed, and hung my head.

"Very well," Sensei said slowly. "So you would not object to a little… Randori?"

I gasped and my head snapped up. Sensei was holding a long, wooden sword that me and my brothers knew all too well. I gulped loudly. _God, help me…_

Five large whacks later found me and my bros groaning on the floor. I was laying on my side, clutching my throbbing stomach.

"I hope you have learned, children, that truth isn't the only thing that hurts."

I curled up slightly, still holding my stomach. _Okay… we kinda deserved that… _I heard the shuffling of feet, and opened my eyes. I looked up to see Sensei standing in front of me. I groaned as I sat up as quickly as I could, rubbing my stomach gingerly.

"Loyalty is a powerful thing, Lavinia," said Splinter. "There are times when it makes you strong, but there are also times where it can cost you dearly. You must be careful where your loyalties lie. Do you understand?"

I blinked up at him. Then I hung my head shamefully.

"Hai, Sensei…"

* * *

Me and Leo were currently in the living room, watching an episode of 'Space Heroes.' Sure, it wasn't my favorite, but I didn't hate it either.

"_Captain Ryan! The rebellion is growing! We need to get off this planet!"_

"_No!"_

"_But Captain-"_

_Captain Ryan slapped Cranshaw._

"_I said no!"_

"We may have started this rebellion by accident," Leo recited with the cartoon. "But by the rings of Nebulan, we are going to finish it on purpose!"

"_Aye, sir!"_

Leo beamed at the screen, and I covered my mouth to hid my giggle.

"Seen this enough times there, chief?" Raph asked.

"Shhh!" Leo hissed. "This is the best part."

But suddenly the cartoon was cut off.

"_We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news!"_

"Aww…!" Leo whined.

"_We've received shocking footage of an assault on the TCRI complex in Brooklyn."_

"Leo!" I hissed. "That's the dude from last night!"

It was the same guy from last night. Except, last night, he didn't have huge, dangerous looking armor that made him ten times bigger.

"_At last! I will have my revenge!"_

"_Who… wh-who are you?"_

"_You'll never know! I'm the thing that haunts your nightmares! I'm the nameless shadow who-"_

"_Baxter?"_

"…_No."_

"_Baxter Stockman?"_

"_No!"_

"_Hey, everybody! It's Baxter Stockman!"_

"I think his name is Baxter Stockman," Raph stated.

"So much for 'the nameless shadow,'" I muttered.

"_Is this because I fired you?"_

"_That copy machine was already broken when I… I mean…" Stockman cleared his throat. "I don't know what your talking about!"_

"How did he upgrade his armor so fast?" Leo asked.

Stockman on screen yelled and appeared to have lunge for the poor soul holding the camera. When he did I ran up and quickly paused the TV. We all stared at the screen. There was no mistaking what that tiny, circular object on his chest was.

"He has the T-Pod?!" I heard Donnie snap.

I turned around. Donnie was towering over Mikey, who was looking sheepish.

"Mikey," I said slowly. "What did you do?"

"Oh, um… heheh… I might've dropped that during the fight…"

"You dropped it _during the fight_!?" Donnie bellowed. "Nice going, Mikey!"

"It's your fault!" Mikey snapped back.

"How is it _my _fault!?"

"You know I can't be trusted with nice things!"

Donnie growled at his younger brother, steam issuing out of his ears. Mikey gulped and shrunk away.

"So, the AI chip is upgrading his armor the same way it upgraded the T-Pod?" Leo asked.

"If it keeps going, there's no telling how powerful he'll get," said Donnie.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"This has gone way too far," said Leo. "We have to tell Splinter about this."

"What? That we turned some nut job into a super villain?" Raph asked. "Do you know what he'll do to us for that? I mean, he pounded us into the ground just for being _sleepy_!"

I placed my hands on my hips. "Then what exactly do you propose we do then, Raphael?"

He looked at me. "Not tell Splinter, for one!"

"And how is that suppose to help us?" I asked.

"Look, we beat Stockman once, we can beat him again," said Donnie. "We track him down, grab the T-Pod, and get back here before Splinter knows anything."

"If my opinion counts for anything," Mikey piped up. "Donnie's right."

"Hey, thanks Mikey," Donnie said sweetly, then he growled. "But it doesn't!"

"Didn't think so…"

* * *

I was surprised at how easy it was for us to find Stockman. But, then again, how hard can it be to track down a 10ft tall pile of walking metal. We had managed to track him down to an abandoned warehouse. He was just sitting there, apparently trying to come up with a new name for himself.

"I'm not Baxter Stockman. I am… The Baxman! No, no… I am… The Suitinator! Aw, that's _terrible_! …Captain…punch you…hard… Guh! Why is this so difficult?"

"I still kinda feel bad for him," I muttered to Raph.

"I don't," he whispered.

We all withdrew our weapons, and slowly surrounded Stockman.

"I kinda like 'The Suitinator,'" Mikey said a little too loudly.

"Shh!" we all hissed, but it was too late.

"You guys again?" Stockman snapped.

"Alright, Stockman," Leo said calmly. "Nobody wants to hurt you."

"We don't?" Raph asked, looking genuinely confused. "Did I miss a meeting?"

"Correction; Raph wants to hurt you," I said, trying sound calm as well. "But the rest of us don't wanna fight you."

"She's right," said Leo. "We just want the T-Pod."

"Give up my source of power?" Stockman growled. "Why? So you can laugh at me again? Throw me in a dumpster!?"

I gulped. _Okay, this isn't going well… _We all started to back up, but Raph growled as he stood his ground.

"Sounds good to me."

With a yell, Raph charged at Stockman first. He leaped up and went to strike from above, but Stockman lifted his robotic arm, and with a powerful whirl, Raph was thrown across the room. He smacked into the wall and fell to the ground.

"Raph!" I yelled.

I glared up at Stockman. _Okay! _Now _I wanna fight him!_ Without hesitation, me, Leo, Mikey and Donnie all charged at Stockman. But the dude just extended his robotic arms and slammed both Mikey and Donnie into the wall. Leo continued on and charged from the front, running up the long arm. He jumped up, swung his swords down, and sliced his robotic arms off. I jumped up and landed above Stockman's head. I jumped again, spun in the air, and managed to get a few good kicks to his face. I landed back on the ground and stood before the robotic man.

The spots where Stockman's elongated arms once were, they were now replaced by very large hands. Then, from behind me, I heard a small whirl. I turned around and saw that the remains of Stockman's previous arms had become a little robot.

"Leo, watch it-!"

Too late. The little sucker had jumped up and landed on Leo's head. Or, rather, put itself on Leo's head like hat. Before I could do anything Leo started running around, screaming in panic. I glared up at Stockman, who was laughing at what was happening.

"You… you little…!"

I growled as I ran up and threw my tessen at his head. He gasped, and ducked just in time. The weapons spun around and headed back towards me. I reached up and grabbed it in time. Then Stockman threw both of this large arms down at me, but I jumped out of the way. I landed back on the ground, but this time he managed to just graze me with his metal arm. I tripped and fell on the ground. My tessen slide away, far out of reached. I looked up and saw Stockman raising is arms again.

"Hey, Stockman!"

I turned to see Mikey leaping over and landing in front of Stockman, nunchucks whirling.

"Back off my sister!"

I quickly got to my feet and ran over to retrieve my tessen. I grabbed it and turned around. Mikey's kusarigama chain was wrapped around Stockman, holding his metal arms down. For a moment it looked as though Mikey had the upper hand. Then Stockman straightened up and started spinning around. Mikey, who was still holding the chain, was whipped around along with Stockman. I let out yell as I flung my tessen forward as hard as I could. The fan flew forward, and with a loud _clang_, it sliced through the chain. Mikey fell to the ground and slid on his shell. He said up and beamed at me as I caught my tessen.

"Thanks, Nia!"

But before I could answer one of Stockman's large hands ramped into me. It knocked me off of my feet and I slammed into the opposite wall. I couched. The wind was completely knocked out of me. Suddenly Stockman grabbed me by one of my ankles and hoisted me up. I nearly dropped my tessen as he lifted me into the air. I glanced around just enough to see all four of the guys standing in front of Stockman.

And they looked _pissed_!

They all withdrew their weapons and ran up to Stockman. Leo and Donnie tried to go for his head, but Stockman simply knocked them out of the way with his arm. Mikey threw his chain up and wrapped it around the arm that was holding me, and pulled it down. Then Raph jumped up and drove his sais into Stockman's robotic hand. Sparks flew out as the metal claws finally let go of me. I yelped as I began to fall, but Mikey caught me before I hit the floor.

"Thanks, Mikey!"

"No prob, dudette!"

I stood up on my feet as Raph jumped back down and landed beside us. Donnie came up, and his nagnita blade shot out of his Bo staff. But just as he lunged it forward Stockman grabbed it and crushed the entire end of the stick.

"Hey!" Donnie snapped.

He backflipped out of the way. Stockman stomped forward. Donnie tossed the remainder of his staff away, holding his fists up. We charged at Stockman, and he charged at us.

I don't necessarily recall what happened after that, but I'm sure I don't to know. All I remember is this; one second we were fighting Stockman, and the next we were thrown into a dumpster.

"That hurt…" I groaned.

"Foolish ones!" Stockman bellowed. "Did you really thing you could defeat me?"

"Well, yeah!" Mikey spoke in a voice that said, 'duh.'

"All my life, people have laughed at me," Stockman growled. "The other kids at school, my coworkers, the woman who fixes the copy machine… How was I suppose to know you don't pour toner in the top? But when they behold the power of this suit, they won't be laughing anymore! They'll tremble in terror…!"

There was a flash of red light, and suddenly Stockman looked a lot bigger, and a lot more dangerous!

"What's happening?" Leo asked.

"Stockman and the T-Pod…" Donnie breathed. "They're… merging… they're becoming one, single entity…"

"The Stockman-Pod…" Mikey said lowly.

"Guys," I said fearfully. "I'm pretty sure I don't have to say this, but… SCRAM!"

They didn't need to be told twice. We all quickly scurried out of the dumpster and ran into the street, screaming for our lives.

"The Stockman-Pod's right on top of us!" Mikey yelled.

"Stop calling him that! That's a stupid name!" Raph snapped.

"Split up!" Leo ordered. "He can't follow us all!"

"No way!" Mikey yelled. "He's gonna follow _me_!"

"Why would he follow you?" Leo asked.

"They _always _follow me!"

"Stop being paranoid and just do it!"

And so we did. One by one, we each went to a different alley. Raph went to one, Donnie went to a second, and Leo went to a third. I almost went to my own when I heard Mikey scream.

"_Ahh!_ I told you he was gonna follow me!"

I growled. "Oh no, you don't!"

I took out my tessen and sprinted into the alley that Stockman had chased Mikey into. I followed them as they ran through a couple blocks. Then, when it looked like Stockman was about to get Mikey, I hollered.

"Hey, Stockman!"

He turned to look at me as I ran towards him, and flung my tessen at him. He blocked the fan and I jumped up kicked my leg out in an attempt to kick his head. But he grabbed me before I could do anything.

"I've had enough of you!"

He tossed me onto the ground, and I landed face first into the concrete. At that moment a sharp, stinging pain shot through my right cheek.

"Ah!"

I hissed as I brought my hand up to my cheek, and I lowered it to see some scarlet liquid on my fingers. I gasped slightly and looked up. Stockman started to stomp towards me.

"Stockman!" I heard Mikey yell. "What'd I say about backing of my sis?"

Stockman turned and I looked down. Mikey was standing at the other end, holding what looked like two pizza boxes in his hands. Stockman laughed and stomped over to him.

"I've got you now!"

"Oh, yeah? Well I've got…" Mikey popped open the boxes. "Hot cheese!"

Mikey jumped and threw the pizza's at Stockman, and they slammed into his face. He skidded to a halt and tried to scrap the smeared cheese off of his face. I grabbed my tessen as Mikey sprinted over to me.

"Come on!"

I quickly got to my feet, and we ran off.

* * *

"Sh! Guys, quiet… we don't wanna wake him."

"I'm not making any noise."

"Don't tell me to be quiet."

"Guys," I whispered. "You know if he finds us he's gonna be pissed."

"Why are you worried?" Raph asked. "You're not the one who's grounded."

Then the lights flashed on and we froze. Sensei was standing right there, waiting for us.

"Ah! Sensei!"

I inhaled sharply. As I quickly pulled hood over my head more. I had kept it up since we outran Stockman so that the boys wouldn't see me hurt.

"And where have you been?" Sensei asked.

"Nowhere…" said Raph.

"How did you get so hurt?"

"Oh! That!" Leo spluttered. "Um… Well, we were…"

"Hit…"

"By a…"

"Bus," Mikey finished.

Splinter raised his eyebrow, clearly not believing it. I close my eyes as I groaned.

"Hit by a bus?" Donnie hissed.

"Well, what was I suppose to say? Meteor? Cow? Flying building?"

I rolled my eyes. _Geez, Mikey…_

"Lavinia, what is that on your face?"

I inhaled sharply as I looked up. Sensei was staring directly at me.

"N-nothing," I said, but the stutter in my voice was a dead give away.

"Remove your hood, Lavinia," said Splinter. "Now."

I gulped. _Aw, man…_ I took a deep breath, and sighed as I grabbed my hood and removed it. The second I did this all of the boys gasped.

"Nia, you're bleeding!" Leo said, horrified.

"It's nothing!" I said quickly. "It's just a cut, I swear!"

"You're whole cheek is red, Nia!" Raph snapped.

I stared at him. I lifted my hand up to my cheek, and I felt it was completely wet. I gasped lightly. A second later Splinter was standing in front of me. He lifted a hand under my chin and raised my face slightly. He examined my face for a moment, then looked at Donnie.

"Donatello, get the first aid kit."

"Hai, Sensei!"

Donnie ran off without hesitation.

"It doesn't look serious. Just needs to be cleaned and suppressed," said Sensei. "Once I've taken care of Lavinia, you all can tell me what happened."

* * *

"…And then I threw hot cheese in his face and ran away," Mikey finished.

"Very resourceful, Michelangelo," Splinter said. "But I am still highly disappointed in you all. The first rule of being a ninja is _do no harm_… Unless you mean to do harm, then do _lots_ of harm! Not only that," he continued. "But your foolishness got Lavinia hurt."

I gulped. He didn't have to bring that up. After my face was cleaned it was revealed that the cut wasn't long, just deep enough to bleed as much as it did. Still, it wasn't bad. A large piece of cotton taped to my cheek and I was fine.

"It was my fault, Sensei," I muttered. "And… it was just a cut…"

"But it could've been much worse," Sensei said firmly. "And your brothers know that."

I glanced over at the boys, and saw they all had shameful looks on their faces. It tore my heart to see that.

"You're right, Sensei," said Leo. "I guess we did make a mess of things."

"So, what do you think would be a fitting punishment?" Sensei asked.

Leo paused.

"We need to clean up our mess," he said finally.

"Yes. You must stop this Stockman-Pod."

"But, Sensei, that guy's already kicked our shells," said Donnie. "And, now he's even more powerful. How are we suppose to stop him?"

"I know! I'll hit him really hard!" Raph said, punching a fist into his hand.

"Brute force is not the answer," said Sensei. "You will need to rely on your ninja training."

"Excuse me, Sensei," Mikey piped up. "But, ninjas never had to go up against guys in armor."

Splinter raised and eyebrow, and I rolled my eyes.

"Mikey…"

Mikey looked over at me, and I pointed to the dojo tapestry behind Sensei, where pictures of ninjas were fighting a warrior wearing armor.

"Ooh…" Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "I mean… ninjas _always _had to go up against guys in armor!"

"Nice save," Raph muttered.

"Sensei," said Leo. "What was their secret?"

"They understood that you do not fight the armor, you fight the man inside."

I glanced over and exchanged a look with all of my bros. Except for Mikey, who looked confused.

"Why are we all lookin' at each other?"

* * *

Leo's plan was simple. Mikey made Stockman chase him, and we were to wait on the rooftops.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Donnie asked.

"Like Sensei said," Leo told us. "Don't fight the armor, fight the guy inside. And one thing we know about bad guys, they _love _chasing Mikey."

"That doesn't boost my confidence," I told him.

"Guys! Stockman-Pod's got…!" Mikey landed in front of us. "_Missiles_!"

No sooner had he spoken then several large missiles started heading our way. We all scattered to a safe spot before the water tower on the roof was blown sky-high. I looked up and saw Mikey swung his nunchucks over a power line and was now handing over the fire. Then through the smoke and fire, Stockman appeared. As soon as he was out of the fire we all charged at him. We swung our large chains up at him, wrapping him in them, pinning his large arms to his body. I took several steps back, keeping the chain tight, and the others did, too. Mikey then landed in front of Stockman, grinning.

"Now who's trembling in terr- Whoa!"

_Snap!_ Stockman broke through the chains. He then grabbed Mikey by his head, reared his arm back, and tossed the young turtle. Mikey went flying and slammed into a wall.

"Mikey!" me and Donnie cried.

"That's it!" Raph growled. "You're goin' down!"

At once we all charged. Stockman turned and charged towards us as well. Donnie pushed himself up with his staff and kicked Stockman several times before smacking him with said staff. Leo ran up and sliced his katana at Stockman's sides, but that didn't make any progress. Using my kamas, I ran at Stockman and swung and stabbed at his legs all I could. I got a few good hits in, but none of it was enough to cause enough damage. Stockman then swung at Raph, who blocked it and tried to stab at the robotic mans' front. Stockman tried to throw him off, but Raph jumped, landed on top, and stabbed his sais into the metal to keep from falling. Raph then did a back flip and landed in front of Stockman. He lunged forward, ready to stab with his sais. But Stockman dodged, and hit Raph in his shell. Raph flew and smashed into a wall.

"Raph!" Leo yelled.

He and Donnie went to attack, but Stockman extended his arms and push them away, and they fell over the edge of the roof.

"Guys!" I cried.

I ran to go help them, but one of Stockman's hands grabbed me and yanked me back. He laughed in my face, and I glared at him. I glanced up, and I saw Raph helping Leo and Donnie back onto the roof. Stockman saw me staring and turned his head. He let out a groan, and threw me at them. I landed on the ground and tumbled over to them. Raph put a hand on my shoulder and helped me to my feet. Suddenly Stockman was in front of us once more.

"Any last words?" he growled.

"Just one," said Leo. "Bees."

Stockman stared. "Bees?"

"Bees…!" I heard Mikey shout.

I looked up and saw him sliding down and electric cable, a large beehive in his hands. He landed on the ground, jumped all over Stockman, and shoved the beehive through the hole where his face was. Stockman screamed and flailed about. His movement caused the suit to extend, revealing the T-Pod.

"The T-Pod!" Leo shouted.

I gripped my kamas tightly, and ran forward. One by one, me and my bros all swung powerful hits to Stockman. With each powerful blow, he stumbled backward more and more until finally, he fell off the roof. We ran over to the edge and looked down. Stockman was lying on the lower level, still flailing slightly. We all jumped down and joined him on the lower rooftop. Leo walked up to him and stood on his chest. He pointed his katana at Stockman's face, then and the T-Pod. He stabbed it, twisted, and pulled the devise out.

There was a flash of red light, and the suit powered down. Stockman groaned as he struggled his way out of the large suit, his face covered in large, painful whelps. He looked up as me and the other three went to stand next to Leo.

"So… We'll call it a tie?" Stockman asked hopefully.

Leo turned to smirk at Raph. "Wanna call it a tie, Raph?"

Raph cracked his knuckles. "Not yet…"

Pretty soon, Stockman was back where he belonged. In a dumpster.

"Now it's a tie," Raph said before slamming the lid shut.

"That's what I'm talking about!" I jeered, and I a double fist bump with Leo as Donnie and Raph shared a high-three.

"Yeah, _boy_!" Mikey cried, jumping into the air.

* * *

"You all showed wisdom and great skill in defeating the Stockman-Pod," Sensei told us. "I'm proud of you all."

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Sensei."

"Does this mean we're not grounded anymore?" Leo asked hopefully.

Sensei stroked his beard for a moment, his eyes closed.

"Yes," he said lowly.

The boys looked at each other with glee.

"But first, Randori!"

The boys turned and screamed, sprinting out of the room as Sensei held the wooden sword up. I watched as they all disappeared, their screams dieing with them.

"It seems your brothers fell for it, Lavinia," Sensei said, humor in his voice.

I laughed. "They sure did, Sensei. They sure did."

Sensei chuckled as he tucked away the wooden sword. He smiled at me, and gestured to the exit.

"You are free to go."

I bowed my head, and left the dojo.

All the boys were hiding in various places, no doubt to stay away from Sensei and his wooden sword. But once I told them it was all a joke, they all revealed themselves.

"That explains why you didn't run," Donnie said as he walked up to me. "Oh, by the way, I got something for you, Nia."

I turned. "What is it?"

Donnie smiled as he reached behind him, and pulled out something small and silver.

"The T-Pod?" I asked. "But, Leo stabbed it."

"And I fixed it," Donnie said simply. "I didn't want my hard work to go to waste. And, I want you to have it."

"Wow, cool!"

I grabbed the T-Pod from Donnie's hands and looked at it. It looked the same as it did before. But the silver seemed to be lighter, and the lights were glowing white instead of bright blue.

"No fair!" Mikey whined. "Why does Nia get the T-Pod?"

"Because I know she won't loose it and let it end up in the enemy's hands."

Mikey frowned, staring at his brother.

"…Well played," he said.

"Besides," Donnie continued. "One of the main reasons I made it was to give it to Nia anyway."

I blinked. "Really?"

Donnie nodded. "Yeah. No one likes music more than you, so, I thought-"

But he was cut off as I flung my arms around his neck in a large hug.

"Donnie, you're the best!"

Donnie chuckled as he hugged me back.


	11. Metalhead

Ch. 6  
Metalhead

Eh, what can I say? Another day, another Kraang fight.

"Keep moving!" Leo shouted. "Don't let 'em surround you! Failure is _not _an option!"

"Technically, failure is always an option," said Donnie.

"You know what else is an option?" Raph snapped. "_Slapping _you!"

"Not the time, guys!" I hollered.

We all continued running, speeding left and right to avoid the lasers the Kraang were firing. I gripped my kamas as I stopped, and did a huge back flip. I landed behind a pair of Kraang-droids, raised my arms, and swung my blades at their neck, slicing their heads off.

"Nia, watch it!" I heard Raph yell.

I turned my head and saw another Kraang-droid pointing a gun at me. I yelped and jumped out of the way just as it fired the laser, hitting the spot where I had been.

"Mikey! On the right!" Donnie shouted.

"Your right, or my right?"

Mikey yelped as the Kraang fired on him. Donnie leaped forward on an occupied Kraang-droid and whacked its head with his Bo staff. But the Kraang stood there, unharmed.

"Are you kidding me?" he snapped, glaring at his weapon. "I _hate _this thing!"

The Kraang-droid turned, aiming its laser gun at Donnie. But Raph had thrown one of his sais, and it embedded itself in the robot's skull. Raph leaped forward and used his other sai to remove the head.

"Nice work," he said sarcastically. "When we're done here there's a marching band that needs a majorette."

I rolled my eyes before running back into the fight. I went down and slide between the legs of a Kraang-droid, holding my kamas out. They sliced through the robot's legs, and the thing went down. Another one started running towards me, but I took out a few throwing stars and threw them at the robot. Two of them struck at the bot's head and one hit its chest, and the thing went down.

I stood up and regrouped with the others. But before we could do much of anything a big, black tank-like thing rolled up into the facility.

"Everyone, stand your ground!" Leo ordered, pointing his katanas at the cannon.

The said object made a loud, powerful whirl as it powered up.

"You were saying?" I asked.

Leo stared. "On second thought, _run_!"

A Kraang-droid pressed a button, and a huge laser blast fired. It barley missed us as we all jumped in different directions, trying to avoid the blast. Mikey jumped over the second blast, and Raph barley dodged the third. I yelped and went down into a split to avoid a shot that came my way. As soon as I had the chance, I ran and joined Mikey behind a stack of crates. Leo jumped and leaped from the walls, dodging another blast. Donnie came really close to getting hit. He had ducked to avoid a blast aiming for his head, and the shot fired a hole into the wall. Not only that, the blast had destroyed the top half of Donnie's staff, leaving a smoking remainder behind.

"Oh, come _on_!" he snapped as he stomped his foot.

"Dude, your weapon just exploded!" said Mikey.

Donnie ran and dodged another big blast and jumped behind a metal support for cover.

"How am I suppose to fight advanced, alien technology with a _stupid stick_!?"

Next thing I knew me and the guys were backed up against the wall. The laser cannon and the Kraang-droids stood before us, waiting to fire.

"Leo? A little help?" I asked.

"I'm working on it."

"Kraang," one of the robots said. "Destroy those who call themselves 'the turtles and the girl' when that which is the signal is the signal that is given by me."

In that second, Leo pulled out a throwing star and threw it upward. It bounced around the ceiling, shot towards the forklift, and it hit the button, causing the machine to come to life. It rumbled forward and pushed both the Kraang-droids and the cannon aside. The tiny brains crawled out of their destroyed robot bodies, squalling and flailing.

As soon as we were clear we turned and jumped out of a nearby window.

"Nice shot, Leo," I said, patting said turtles shoulder.

"Dumb luck," said Raph.

"It wasn't 'luck,' my friend," Leo grinned. "And 'dumb' had nothing to do with it."

There was a strange sound, like a struggling grunt, and I turned. Donnie was just outside, apparently trying to yank something through the window.

"Hey, give me a hand with this," he said, nodding to the object he was holding.

"A hand with what?" Leo asked.

Donnie didn't answer immediately.

Turns out the thing Donnie wanted to bring home was the remains of a Kraang robot suit. Without the little alien inside, of course.

"We're carrying this because… why?" Raph asked.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Don't you wanna understand how these things work?"

"I know how they work," Raph said simply. "You hit 'em 'til the brainy toy surprise pops out."

The two continued to drag the robot body over to the manhole as Mikey took off the cover.

"That's your problem, Raph," Donnie grunted as he lifted the body. "You never think things through."

He lowered his arms and dropped the body into the hole. Only problem; it got stuck at an awkward angle.

Raph shot Donnie an irritated look. "Was that suppose to fit?"

Donnie looked at us, looking slightly embarrassed. Then he glared down at the robot body and started kicking and stomping it repeatedly. _This might take a while…_

* * *

We all got to the lair after a while, and we all went off to do our own thing. Mikey was eating some pizza, Leo was watching 'Space Heroes,' Raph was sitting on the couch feeding Spike, and I was sitting next to him while playing my guitar. April was sitting in the beanbag chair with her laptop in her lap, and Donnie was right next to her, rummaging through the robotic body.

"This technology is _light-years _ahead of anything I've ever seen," he pulled out a small part from the exoskeleton, and waved it near April's face. "Do you know what this is?"

April, whose gaze was glued to her computer, didn't look up. "No."

"Neither do I!" Donnie beamed, drooling with excitement. "But I can't wait to find out!"

At that moment Sensei walked into the room, carrying a new Bo staff.

"Oh, look Spike," Raph petted the turtles head. "Donnie got another stick to break."

I snorted. Sensei walked up to Donnie, holding the staff out to him.

"With all due respect. Sensei, I can't keep fighting alien technology with a six foot staff," Donnie looked up hopefully. "I was hoping to upgrade my weapon."

"Hm…" Sensei gave a small smile. "A _seven _foot staff. Interesting…"

"No, I meant using modern technology."

"Ah… a _solar powered_ staff."

I laughed quietly, and Donnie shook his head.

"I'm serious, Sensei."

"I know," said Splinter. "And yes, you may upgrade your weapon."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just sa-" Donnie paused, blinking. "Wait, did you say yes?"

"Ninja's have improved their arsenal for centuries," Sensei said wisely. "We are masters of adaptation."

Donnie jumped to his feet, beaming with happiness and excitement.

"That's great! 'Cause with this technology, I will be _invincible_!" he started bouncing with anticipation. "What should I make? Electric sais? Multi-shot shruiken? _Plasma swords?_ Ooh… I just gave myself goosebumps!"

I stopped my playing and stared at Donnie, eyebrows raised. Then he jumped down next to April and lifted his arm up.

"You wanna feel?" he asked. "Huh?"

April glanced up at Donnie, looking slightly amused, and her eyes went back to her computer.

"Pass."

_Real smooth, D._

"But, remember," Sensei warned. "Technology is a means, not an end. It is _you _who must prevail in battle, not your weapon. Combat is not a video game."

"That's it! I'll turn combat into a video game!" Donnie said as he picked up the robot body. "Thanks Sensei!"

Without another word, Donnie dragged the body into his lab and shut the doors.

"You sure that was wise, Sensei?" I asked. "I mean… Donnie can come up with some pretty strange things. And with Kraang tech, God knows what he'll come up with next."

"Your concern is understandable, Lavinia. But, I trust Donatello to make the right decisions with something a serious as this."

With that, he turned and headed for the dojo.

"Nia," April piped up. "You know it's like, five, right?"

I looked at the watch around my neck. "Yeah. So?"

"Didn't you say you were doing something tonight?"

My brows furrowed as I tried to remember. What was it that I had to do tonight…? And then it hit me.

"Angus!" I gasped.

At once I put my pick between my teeth and kneeled down in front of my guitar case, setting my guitar inside.

"What's up?" Raph asked.

"I'm suppose to meet Angus in Central Park!" I said through my teeth, which were still holding the pick. "I promised to meet him at 5:40."

"_Ooh…_" Mikey cooed. "Excited to see Angus, huh?"

I whipped my head around. All of the boys were now looking at me, large smirks on their faces. Even April had torn her eyes away from her computer screen to grin at me. I stared back at them as I snatched the guitar pick out of my mouth.

"What? I promised him, and you know I hate breaking my-"

"That's not why we're smiling," Leo interrupted.

"Oh yeah? Then why?"

"Face it, Nia," Mikey said slyly. "This is a date, and you know it."

I stared at them, my mouth hanging open. Are they really going to do this now? Out of the corner of my eye I saw Raph turn his head away, but he was probably just looking at Spike.

"C'mon Mikey, leave her alone," he said, not looking at us. "When she's ready to admit she likes him, she will."

"For the last time!" I groaned. "I don't like him that way!"

But the others continued to smirk at me. _Geez, how many times do I need to say it before they get the hint?_ I reared my head back and let out a groan of frustration.

"You know what? Whatever," I closed the lid of my guitar case and clipped it shut. "While you guys are chilling down here, I'm gonna go out and hang with my friend. So, go ahead. Smirk and tease all you want."

I grabbed the handle of my guitar case and put the guitar pick in my pocket. I turned on my heel and headed for the exit.

"Don't forget your hoodie, young lady!" Leo called, his voice playful.

"I think I can live without my hoodie for one nigh, Leonardo," I called back. "I'll be back later."

"Have fun," said April.

"Good luck on your date!" Mikey called back to me.

I bit my lip as I slowly inhaled through my nose. _Ignore him… _I exhaled, and left.

* * *

I was surprised at how many people were still out at this time. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think that the park would be empty or anything. But there was still a crowd of people around "Rat Rock" by the time I got there. As planned, Angus was sitting there, waiting for me.

" 'M surprised," he said as I walked up to him. "You're pretty early."

"You're welcome," I said. "So, where do we begin?"

"Simple; open your case and pull out your guitar."

Still sitting down, Angus opened his American flag-painted guitar case. The inside was made of soft, red material. The guitar was a soft, solid red with a yellow star in the center. It was lovely, but that's not what caught my attention. In the center of it was a small photo of Angus, and there were two adults standing next to him. There was a heavyset woman with short, brown hair and small, blue eyes. She had her hand on Angus' shoulder, and was smiling at the camera. Next to her was a tall, very bulky man with black hair and green eyes. He had his arms around the woman's shoulders, smiling at her. Angus stood in front of them, a red ballcap on his head. He had his arms folded, a grin on his face. He looked younger in his photo, and his brown hair was longer and shaggier.

"Are those your parents?" I asked.

Angus paused while taking out his guitar. He bent over and looked inside the case.

"Yep," he nodded. "Took that the day before we moved here. Now, let's see your girl."

I raised my eyebrow. "My… what?"

"Your piece… Your baby…"

I shook my head.

"_Your guitar_."

"Oh!"

I gulped, suddenly feeling embarrassed. I walked over and sat next to Angus, setting my case down. I unclipped it and opened the case up. Angus leaned in, and wolf whistled.

"Now that is a _beauty_!"

"Thanks," I said. "My dad gave it to me."

"Well, your daddy's got some _awesome _taste," Angus put the strap around his shoulders. "Ready?"

"Yeah," I took out my guitar and put the strap over my shoulder. "So… what do I do now?"

Angus smiled. "You've never played with anyone before, have yah?"

I shook my head.

"Figures. Well, it's obvious, ain't it? You just play."

Angus reached behind him and took out a tiny red pick. He brought the pick to the strings, cleared his throat, and began to sing.

"_You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down. You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down-down…"_

Stared at him, completely surprised. He was a really good player, and he could really _sing_!

"_Walk out the house with my swagger, hop in the whip, yo I got places to go! People to see, time is precious, I look at my Cartier, out of control! Just like my mind where I'm going, no women, no shorties, no nothing my clothes. No stomping on my Perrerli's on froze, unlike my jewelry that's always on cold…"_

I saw something drop out the corner of my eye, and I turned. But the only thing I saw was a tall man who had passed by rather closely. I glanced down inside Angus's case, and saw a 5 dollar bill in there.

"_I know the storm is coming, my pockets keep telling me it's gonna shower! Call up my homies it's on and poppin' tonight, cause it's meant to be ours! We keep away shot cause we balling this platinum Patron every hour! Look momma I owe you just like the flowers, girl you the truth with all that goody sour…"_

A pair of younger girls- probably about twelve- stood in front of us, giggling cutely. Then they both walked up, and both dropped a few bills into Angus' case.

"_You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down. You spin my head right round- right round. When you go down, when you go down- down…"_

Angus strummed the last note before coming to a stop. He stopped singing, and looked up at the two girls, who were still standing there. He smiled and nodded at them.

"Ladies."

The two girls giggled, blushingly furiously before turning and hopping away. I snorted.

"Does that happen often?" I asked.

"Nah, it's just them," said Angus. "Those were the Cammy sisters. They've been acting like that for a while now."

"Hmm… Well, that was really good. You're very talented."

"Thanks," Angus grinned. "Alright, your turn."

I blinked. "Oh, um… okay."

I reached into my front pocket and pulled out my black guitar pick. I put it to the strings, but I didn't play.

"Nervous?" Angus asked.

"Yeah," I said sheepishly. "The only people I've ever played for are my brothers and my dad."

"So, pretend they're the ones listening to yah," Angus smiled. "Just imagine that you're playing for them, no one else."

I bit my lip, and nodded. _Okay, sounds simple enough._ I gulped as I took a deep breath, and began to play.

"_So no one told you life was gonna be this way… Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A… It's like you're always stuck in second gear… When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"_

As I continued playing I saw out the corner of my eye a woman stop in front of me. I couldn't see her face, but she appeared to be looking at me. A second later she dropped a bill into my guitar case, and continued on.

"_You're still in bed at ten, and work began eight… You've burned your breakfast, so far things are going great… Your mother warned you there'd be days like these… But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees, and…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there four you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"_

I was able to glance up enough to see a young couple who were holding hands walk up in front of me.

"Aw, I love this song," the girl muttered.

The boy smiled at her as he reached into his pocket. He held his hand over my case, and dropped several quarters inside. The girl reached into her pocket before reaching her hand out and dropping two or three bills into the case. The two continued to listen a little longer before moving along.

"_It's like you're always stuck in second gear… When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…_

"_I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too…"_

I stopped singing, and then I stopped playing. I let out whatever breath I was holding, and I turned to look at Angus. He had a stunned, speechless look on his face.

"Honey," he said. "You've got some serious skill."

I smiled at him.

* * *

"I'm back!" I called as I walked through the coin eaters, which served as the entrance and exit.

"Hi, Nia," April called back, her eyes not leaving her laptop. "You have fun?"

I nodded. "Tons."

I walked over to the couch, setting the case on the floor.

"Hey, guys!" April called. "Check out this post I got!"

"Hang on, April!" I heard Raph's voice. "I just have to destroy Lame-O-Nardo."

I turned my head to see Leo and Raph were in the middle of playing the digital hockey game. Leo had a serious look on his face that I only ever saw when he was training. Raph, however, had a wide smirk on his face the whole time he was playing. Then he slammed his hand down on the button, and the hockey puck slammed into Leo's player, and it was destroyed. Leo gasped, then glared at his younger brother. Raph laughed before jumping from his spot and doing a little victory dance. He smirked smugly as he went over and put an elbow on Leo's shoulder. Then he smacked his older brother before walking over to April. Leo scowled, rubbing his head as he followed. I sighed.

"Boys, right?" April muttered.

"You have no idea," I whispered as I jumped down to sit next to her.

"So, what's up?" Raph asked, but he stopped when Leo smacked his head.

"I set up a message board to collect unusual sightings around New York," April said as she tapped away on her computer. "People send in pics, videos… I also get some stuff that may help us track the Kraang and find my dad."

"Anything good come up yet?" I asked as I looked at her computer screen.

"I think so. Like this video of a gas explosion."

She clicked on a clip, and a video of a Kraang-droid walking through smoke.

"A Kraang-droid," Leo said grimly.

Mikey, who had been sleeping on the tire swing, shot up and screamed.

"_Where?!_"

A second later he fell over and splashed into the water. I chuckled.

"We'll check it out tonight," Leo told April.

"Why not now?" she asked.

"Because it's daytime," he explained. "We can't allow anyone to see us."

"Well, _I _can…"

April closed her laptop and set it on the couch before standing up and walking towards the exit. Leo ran up and stood in front of her.

"April, think about this. It could be dangerous."

"You know what else could be dangerous? Standing between me and my father."

April crossed her arms, staring daggers at Leo, who stared back.

"Watch this," Raph whispered to me. "Leo's gonna wimp out."

I chuckled lowly as I watched the other two. Leo raised his hands up in surrender, and stepped aside.

"'Kay…"

With that, April left the lair.

"What'd I tell yah?" Raph smirked.

I giggled as I rolled my eyes.

* * *

"One 5," I said as I placed my card in pile.

"Two 6's," said Raph, and he placed two cards into the pile.

I bit my lip. "…Two 7's."

"BS!" Raph snapped.

"No, it's not!"

"Oh, yeah?"

Raph picked up the two cards I had dropped, and lifted them up. Neither of them had a 7 on them. I glared daggers as Raph smirked at me.

"I believe _this _is now yours," he set down the cards and pushed the pile towards me. "Oh! And look! I only have two cards left. Looks like I'm about to beat yah, Nia."

I snorted. "Pff! Yeah right!"

I hastily grabbed the pile of cards and shuffled them. Raph grinned at me before setting down one of his two remaining cards.

"One 8."

I was just about to call 'BS' when there was a loud _bang!_ I snapped my head up and looked around. I didn't see anything. There was another one, and this time I felt the floor shake. There was another, and another, and another. It sounded like something huge was taking large, thunderous steps. The vibrations from the steps were even making the pizza box laying on the floor bounce. Mikey hastily grabbed the box and held it to his chest as though it were his first born child.

At that point I saw something walk out of Donnie's lab. A short, but big robot-like something. It had three fingers and toes, and on its back, acting as a shell, was what looked like a manhole cover. I looked at it for another second before I realized it looked like a metal turtle. Except, it was about half the size of any turtle I had known, and I only knew four.

"_Take me to your leader!_" Donnie's voice sounded through the bullhorn.

"Leo, it's for you," Mikey called.

Leo stood up and walked towards the robot. Me and Raph looked at each other, and shrugged. We both dropped our cards and walked up to Donnie's new creation.

"What _is _this thing?" Leo asked.

Then Donnie came out from his lab. He had an RC car remote control in his hands, and a happy, but professional look on his face.

"Lady and gentlemen… and Raphael…"

Raph blinked.

"_This _is the future of ninjutsu!"

Our gazes fell from him to the much smaller robot. _Okay… not exactly what I expected._

"I always thought the future of ninjutsu would be taller," Raph stated bluntly.

"This is what you were working on?" I stared at Donnie. "And did you really finish it in one night?!"

"Yes, I did!" Donnie said proudly.

"Aww! He's so _cute_!" Mikey came up and started tickling his fingers under the robot's chin. "Koochie, koochie, koo!"

At once the robot's eyes flashed, its mouth fell, and it lifted its hands up in a threatening position. But it really became threatening once several very dangerous, heavy-duty weaponry appeared all over it. Hell, it even came with a freaking baseball bat! Mikey screamed and fell back, scooting away from the robot. Donnie chuckled, a smirk growing across his face.

"He doesn't like being tickled," he said simply.

He pressed a button on his controller, and all the weapons on the robot retracted and vanished. Mikey glared at the thing before walking up to it again. I raised my brow, then chuckled when I saw Mikey making silly faces at the robot.

"Isn't it cool?" Donnie's voice was filled with pure excitement. "I reversed engineered it from the Kraang-droid."

"Okay…" Leo looked up at his younger brother. "Why?"

"So, the drone can handle all the dangerous stuff while we stay out of harm's way!"

"Oh, I get it," Raph said sarcastically. "It's for wimps too afraid to fight."

"No, it's for wimps too _smart _to fight!" Donnie stated, then he realized what he had just said. "I mean…"

Mikey, who was tapping on the bot's head, suddenly gasped.

"Ooh! Let's call him Metalhead!" he said. "Why, you ask? Because its got a head, and it's made of-"

"We get it!" Leo cut across him.

"I don't need a _toaster _to fight my battles for me," Raph snapped.

I frowned at the angry turtle. Sure, we didn't necessarily need this thing, but it couldn't possibly be useless, right? However, it seemed as though Leo was on Raph's side.

"This is ridiculous, Donnie," he said. "It takes the whole point out of being a ninja."

"It's _exactly _the point of being a ninja!" Donnie explained. "We adapt! Now, watch this… Attack the drone! Give it all you got!"

"You sure?" Leo asked. "I don't wanna break your toy-"

"_I _do!" Raph snapped, pushing Leo aside to approach the bot.

I glanced up at Donnie, and I felt a bit uneasy with that confident smirk on his face. Thinking it would be wise to stay out of this, I folded my arms behind my back and slowly took a few steps backwards. _This oughta be good…_

Raph withdrew his sais and yelled as he charged forward. Then he jumped into the air, bounced off the ceiling, and dove forward, aiming his sais directly towards Metalhead's head. Donnie handled the controls, and suddenly Metalhead caught Raph's sais at the last second. The robot smacked the turtle on the ground several times before tossing him away.

Donnie suddenly jumped out of the way, and I didn't have to ask why. Both Leo and Mikey jumped and landed on either side of Metalhead and started whacking it with their weapons. But no matter how hard they hit or how much force they gave it, nothing made a scratch on the robot. Suddenly, Metalhead reached up and grabbed one of Leo's katanas, and one of Mikey's nunchucks. The robot pulled both weapons together, which caused Leo and Mikey to be pulled forward, and their heads banged together. Metalhead then stomped on Leo's foot, who screamed in pain. Then he was kicked back, and landed on top of Raph. Not long after that, Mikey was thrown on top of the pile.

"I kicked your shells!" Donnie said as he stood over them. "And I didn't even have to use the laser cannon!"

I stared at him. "A laser cannon? Is that really necessary?"

"Of course it is!" Donnie smirked at me. "You wanna test it, Nia?"

"No thanks! I'm good!"

Donnie laughed, then turned back to the others, who were all starting to get up.

"Face it, guys! With this thing," he swung the remote around. "I'm invincible!"

Raph stood up. "Oh yeah?"

Then he used his sai to knock the remote out of his brother's hand. Donnie blinked, and scowled at Raph.

"You know what I mean!"

Donnie turned and went over to retrieve his remote. But as he kneeled down and reached forward, Sensei appeared in front of him. Donnie looked up, surprised.

"Sensei, I was wondering if I could take Metalhead out for a spin tonight?"

Sensei remained silent for a moment. "You may."

"That's totally unfair! You can't just-!" Donnie stopped. "Wait, what?"

"You have created this new weapon," Splinter walked over to Metalhead, and patted its head. "We must see how well it works."

"Well, that's great!" Donnie bowed his head. "Thank you, Sensei!"

"But, this is a test only," Sensei said firmly. "Do not take it into combat."

"No problem, Sensei."

Splinter looked at Donnie for a moment before turning and going into the dojo. The second he was out of sight, Raph, who was looking at a comic, spoke up.

"You're taking it into combat, aren't yah?"

"Totally!" Donnie giggled.

I sighed. "Well, this'll be good."

* * *

We were all now at the area where the gas explosion had happened. Leo and Mikey were ahead, observing the area below. Me and Raph were kneeling down, just behind them. At that moment there was a loud wiring sound, and we turned. Metalhead had jumped onto the rooftop, cracking the concrete. I groaned slightly. The robot ran over, making loud stomping sounds with each step it took. The drone stopped in front of us, and steam shot out from each side of its head, making a loud, squeaking noise.

"Should we double back?" Leo asked, clearly irritated. "I think there's a car alarm we didn't set off."

"Maybe we should make it walk around some more," I added. "I don't think we woke everyone in the building just yet."

"I kinda like it," Raph kneeled in front of the robot and patted its head. "It goes along nicely with all the sirens and cries for help."

"_Oh, come on! You guys are just jealous_," Donnie's voice issued from Metalhead's speakers. "'_Cause_ _you're out in the cold, and I'm here eating Mikey's last slice of pizza_."

"Hey!" Mikey punched the drone, and then yelped in pain. "Ow!"

I sighed. "Not trying to say that this thing can't be useful, Donnie," I said. "But, would it have killed you to install a stealth mode or something."

"It's a working progress, Nia," Donnie explained. "It's gonna take some time to install something like that into Metalhead's system."

"Hello?" a voice whispered.

"Guys, quiet," Leo ordered. "Somebody's coming."

At once we all dropped to our knees. Metalhead did too, but he did it very noisily.

"Guys, it's me," the voice said, and this time we recognized it.

"April!" said Leo.

At that moment we all jumped over the edge and landed into the alley below. In front of us was, in fact, April.

"Guys!" she said happily. "I was just looking for you!"

But as she spoke something large landed in the dumpster right behind her. It tipped over and felt on its side, loud noises issuing from inside. Then the lid swung open, and Metalhead stepped out. It stood in front of April, looking up at her. We all stared at it for a moment.

"Still, it's stealthier than the real Donatello," Raph said simply.

"What the heck is that?" April asked.

"It's Donnie's latest, _brilliant _creation," said Leo. "Metalhead."

"Catchy name, huh?" Mikey leaned his elbow on the robot's head. "My idea."

Suddenly Metalhead's mouth dropped, and Donnie's voice sounded loudly from the bullhorn instead of the speakers.

"_Oh, sorry April!"_

We all winced and covered our ears to block out the whining feedback.

"_I'm still getting used to the controls…"_

"Donnie! The bullhorn!" I yelled.

"_Uh? Oh… whoops," _Metalhead's mouth closed over the bullhorn. _"Megaphone button got stuck."_

"Guys, we gotta do something!" April said quickly. "The Kraang are gonna poison the city's water supply with mutagen!"

"What?" I gasped.

"The whole city will become a disaster area!" he said.

"_There'll be mutants everywhere!" _said Donnie.

"Wow, think of all the friends we could make!" Mikey said, hugging Metalhead's head with excitement.

We all turned our heads to stare at him. Metalhead tilted his head up to look at Mikey, too.

"Well, excuse me for being a glass half full kinda guy."

"No offense, Mikey," I said. "But the last couple of mutants we've had weren't exactly friendly to us. I'm pretty sure others wouldn't treat us any better."

"Which is why we have to stop them," said Leo. "Let's go!"

He started running, and we all turned and followed him.

"_Yeah! The Kraang don't stand a chance!" _Donnie said excitedly.

Leo stopped running, and we stopped too. He then held out hand, stopping the bot in its tracks.

"_What?"_

"Donnie, I need you to hang back," Leo told him. "Metalhead is just too clumsy, it'll get in our way."

"_Clumsy?"_

Metalhead threw his arms out in exaggeration, but accidentally knocked over a couple of trashcans in the process.

"_I did that on purpose to emphasize my point," _Donnie said quickly.

"You're not coming, Donnie," Leo said firmly.

He turned to leave, and Mikey and Raph followed. I bent over so I was eyelevel with Metalhead, and I patted his head.

"Sorry, Donnie."

"_It's fine," _he sighed. _"Go on. I'll catch you guys later."_

I gave the bot a sad smile before turning around to follow my bros.

* * *

"Looks like a Kraang picnic down there," Leo said softly.

"That doesn't sound very appetizing," I commented.

"Ready to bash some bots?" Raph asked, smirking.

"Destroy some droids?" Leo said, punching his fist into his palm.

"Slice some cyborgs?" I added slyly.

"Clean some closets!"

I blinked, and me and the other two turned to stare at the younger turtle, who stared back.

"Uhh… I meant to say 'crush some Kraang?'"

I rolled my eyes.

Suddenly, Leo and Raph both jumped down, landing on top of two droids. Leo sliced and stabbed with his katanas, and Raph stabbed it a couple times before using his sai to take its head off.

I saw a Kraang droid right underneath me, and I leaped down as I took out my right kama. I landed on the bots shoulders, raised my hands, and swung it down. The curved blade sunk into the robot's head, and I leaped up just as the thing fell to the ground.

"Booyakasha!"

I turned in time to see Mikey fall down on a pair of droids. He smashed them to the ground before mercilessly pounding them into pieces. Raph grabbed him by his shell and pulled him back, but not before Mikey got a few more kicks in.

We went over to the side and peeked around the corner. All clear. We ran forward, one at a time, towards crate and kneeled behind it. Leo rolled over to another crate, and Raph followed him. I rolled to a barrel next to them, and Mikey followed me. We all looked around and saw many more droids were there, pacing around, all armed.

_Clang! _I whipped my head around, and so did the guys. A remaining droid from before was laying there on the ground. It had managed to get the Kraang's attention, and pointed at us before falling to the ground. Mikey whimpered as we all turned around, and the rest of the Kraang were now aiming at us.

The second they started firing I stood and leaped up from my hiding spot. I jumped everywhere, trying to avoid being hit.

* * *

**Donnie's P.O.V.**

_Well, this is just great, _I thought as I stared at the TV screen. _I'm not even part of the mission. I'm just sitting behind, stuck on the roof with… _I gasped. I was with April! Well, not physically of course, but I could still see her and everything. _Okay, don't freak out or anything, Donnie, _I told myself._ You two are probably gonna be here for a while, so… try to talk to her._

I turned the controller keys, and turned Metalhead's head so that I could see April on the TV screen. She was sitting on the ledge, looking down below. I zoomed in on her face a little more to get a closer look at her beautiful. Suddenly she looked up at me, and I snapped Metalhead's head forward. A few seconds later I turned the controller back so I could look at her again. _Come on, Donatello! Say something!_

"So, heheh…" I chuckled nervously. "Yah like heavy metal?"

She raised her eyebrow, and I cleared my throat. _Stupid!_

Then, to my surprise, she chuckled.

"_You mean, like the music genre?"_

"Oh! Um… yes?"

She laughed again. _"Not really. I prefer pop, actually."_

I smiled at the image on the screen. _Okay! Now we're getting somewhere!_

"Just pop? Don't you listen to anything else?"

April shrugged. _"I like dubstep and rock, but that's pretty much it," _she faced me a little more. _"Been meaning to ask, what kind of music does Nia actually like. She seems like more of a music expert than you guys. What's her style?"_

I paused for a moment to think about my answer.

"Well, she loves all music in general," I said simply. "But, there are certain genres that she listens to more than others. Like, she used to listen to a lot of Jazz when we were little, and she still listens to it now. She started listening to a bit of country when she was eleven, that's when she started learning how to play guitar, and she's _amazing _at it. She started listening to soft rock when she was thirteen, and she pretty much went on to listen to everything after that. She'll listen to anything if it makes her happy, really."

It took me a second to realize that I had been rambling on about a simple question. I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. But, what else could I say? Everything I had said was true. Nia had always been attracted to music, even when we were little. I just felt like I needed to specify that.

I glanced up at the screen, and was surprised to see April staring at me. She looked shocked and, if I wasn't mistaking it, a little happy.

"What?" I asked.

She didn't answer immediately.

"_You really know a lot about her, huh?" _she suddenly smiled. _"I know kids at my school who don't know or care what their siblings do… or anything. But, you guys know Nia like the back of your hands."_

"Of course we do," I said. "She was our best friend before she became our sister. We had to get to know her. Heck, we wanted to! She was the first human we had ever met, and the first one to accept us for who and what we are, and…"

I gazed at the screen and saw that April's smile had sweetened.

"_You really care about her, huh?"_

Though she couldn't see it, I smile at her.

"She's our sister, and we'll always love her."

April smiled at me, and I smiled back, my expression still unknown to her. Suddenly I heard laser blasts, and I messed with the controller to see the building. From the windows I could see bright, flashing pink lights. The others must've gotten into a fight already. _Oh well, nothing my bros and sis can't handle._

I looked at the building for a few more seconds. Then I moved the controller, and I turned Metalhead's head to look at April. She had her head point down, and she was looking at the building. Despite the situation, I could still see that the smile she had given me before was on her face, just barley still there. I pressed a button, and the camera zoomed in on her face. I could see all of her adorable freckles under her gorgeous blue eyes.

"Look at her… She's so _beautiful_…" I sighed as I slowly crawled up to the screen. "On this monitor she can't tell I'm staring…"

"_You do know that's not muted, right?"_

"DAH!"

I yelled and suddenly flung myself back, landing on my shell, my arms held out. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! _I quickly sat up, grabbed the controller, and adjusted my headset so that I could speak into it.

"O-oh! O-of course!" I laughed nervously. "If it was muted you couldn't hear me joking!"

I groaned as I face palmed myself with the controller. I gulped as I pressed what I hoped was the mute button.

"Man, I hope she bought that."

"_That's the megaphone."_

"I know!" I quickly pressed the button that turned the megaphone off, and I turned to the building again. "So, how do you think the fight's going?"

Before she could answer there was a large, pink laser blast. It went right between us, and the forced knocked us back on the roof. I quickly got Metalhead to his feet and made him walk over to the ledge.

"_Ahh! They're everywhere!" _I heard Mikey shout. _"Run!"_

"_Not great," _April said bluntly.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

"Can this mission get any worse?" I groaned as the Kraang advanced on us.

"We're trapped!" Leo yelled.

"Or maybe, _they're _the ones who are trapped? Hm?" Mikey asked.

He then sat on his knees and peeked his head up over the old barrel me and him were hiding behind. A second later he yelled and came back down as a laser just barley missed his head.

"No! It's us!" he yelled.

"What do we do?" I asked.

_CRASH! _The sound of glass smashing rang throughout the building. I looked around the barrel, and I saw Metalhead standing on a pile of Kraang, its arms stuck out at awkward angles.

"What are you _doing_?" Leo snapped. "What's wrong with your arms?"

"_My hands aren't on my hips?"_

"_No!_" me and Leo hissed.

"_Sorry…" _Donnie chuckled sheepishly. _"Forgot to press B."_

The arms whirled around for a moment before they landed on the robot's hips. The Kraang powered up their weapons, aimed them at the little drone, and then fired. The lasers hit Metalhead with brutal force, but they didn't seem to have any effect of the robot. The droids continued to fire until they realized that their weapons were doing no good, and stopped.

"_Now it's _my _turn!"_

Metalhead's left hand retracted into its arm, and a large gun barrel replaced it.

"_Eat hot laser!"_

Suddenly, large, blue lasers shot out of the gun. Within seconds it took down most of the Kraang. Over the blasting noise, I could hear Donnie laughing excitedly.

"_Hahaha! You want some o' this?! WHOO! Hahahaha…! Yeah, baby!"_

"Dude, he's acting laughing like a crazy gamer!" I yelled.

Metalhead aimed its right hand out at the Kraang, and the fist detached itself from the arm and started flying around the room, punching down every Kraang-droid that got in the way.

"That is so cool!" I said to the others.

The hand punched a few more Kraang before coming back to the end of Metalhead's right arm. Then the drone turned its head towards us.

"_Hey, Raph! How does it feel to be shown up by a toaster?"_

"Oh!" I jeered as Raph glared at the little bot.

"Burn!" Mikey shouted.

"_Yeah! I thought that was a good one."_

"No! Burn!" Mikey yelled as he pointed outward.

I looked up, and gasped. There were several more Kraang-droids coming up behind Metalhead.

"_Oh! Right!"_

Metalhead turned around, and suddenly huge flames shot out from its right arm, scorching the Kraang-droids. Once those Kraang were down Metalhead retracted the flamethrower and replaced it with the laser gun from before. The drone started firing everywhere at all the Kraang-droids. It turned, and we all yelped as we ducked behind our hiding spots to avoid being shot.

"Dude!" Mikey snapped.

"_Oops! Sorry, Mikey."_

"Donnie, watch the friendly fire!" Leo ordered.

But Donnie wasn't listening. He was too busy having the time of his life with shooting the Kraang.

"_Here's some for you! And some for you!" _Donnie's gamer-crazed voice issued from the bot. _"Oh yeah! I save a little for you, too! How'd that taste!"_

Donnie fired at what appeared to be the last droid in the place. The thing fell to the floor, and a couple of Donnie's lasers hit a couple of gas barrels.

_BOOM!_

The barrels exploded into a mass of fire, and the force sent us everywhere. I went through the air for a moment before I landed on something hard. I looked down to see I landed right on Raph's shell. I groaned as I slid off of him.

"Sorry, Raph…"

"It's cool. You okay?"

"Yeah."

I rubbed my head and looked around, searching for Metalhead until I found it. The drone had slammed into a large, metal supporter and had slid to the ground. From here I could see tiny sparks shooting from the corner of its head, and I saw the silver antenna fall to the floor with a loud _tink!_

"_No! I lost the control signal!" _Donnie's voice cried.

Suddenly, a Kraang alien crawled up to Metalhead and went up to the top of its head. It was electrocuted, but it didn't last long. The alien wrapped its arms around Metalhead's head, closing its eyes. A few surging noises told me that Metalhead was powering back up. The drone tilted its head up, and its once blue, light bulb eyes had gone Kraang pink.

"_Uh-oh… Guys!" _Donnie yelled. _"If you can hear me, you might wanna run!"_

"Guys…!" I yelled.

They all looked up in time to see Metalhead standing before us, the Kraang still attached to his head.

"The ones that which are called 'turtles and girl' will now be called 'turtles and girl that are…" Metalhead's mouth dropped open to expose the bullhorn. "_Destroyed._"

I took a step back, slightly intimidated by the once non-evil bot.

"Phew!" Mikey sighed. "I was really afraid at the beginning of the sentence, but then I sorta just lost interest towards-"

There was the sound of shifting metal, and we all turned our heads to see that Metalhead's left hand was replaced with the laser gun.

"Okay! Now I'm afraid again!"

Mikey yelled as he jumped away to avoid being shot at.

"Mikey!" I yelled.

Mikey spun one of his nunchucks and tossed it at Metalhead. The weapon caught the drone's gunned hand and held it out of the way. Leo and Raph landed on either side of Metalhead, and I ran up to stand behind the bot.

"Give him everything you've got!" Leo ordered.

At once we all ran forward. We stood before Metalhead and started swining and slicing our weapons as much as we possibly could. But we couldn't make so much as a scratch on the thing.

"He's gotta have a weak spot!" Leo yelled.

"This always works!" Mikey reared his leg back, and kicked Metalhead between his metal legs. "_Ow!_ Well, usually…"

_Bam! _Metalhead punched Mikey with such force that he went flying and his shell slammed into a metal support. The drone punched Leo, who was knocked over. He punched Raph, who landed by Mikey. I barley had time to breath before the drone kicked me square in the chest, sending me backwards. I landed in the pile with my bros, groaning in pain.

I sat up and looked in front of me. Metalhead stood before us, along with several more Kraang-droids. We all quickly got to our feet, weapons in hand.

"Now Kraang will destroy you" the Kraang's voice issued from Metalhead. "Which one wants to be first to be destroyed by Kraang?"

"_Me!_"

I gasped. We all looked up in time to see a familiar, purple-banded turtle jump down from the hole in the ceiling. Donnie landed in front of Metalhead, and he had his Bo staff in his hand.

"Donnie!" Mikey yelled. "Bangin' entrance, dude!"

"You guys deal with the droids!" Donnie told us. "I'll handle Metalhead."

I grinned. "Whatever you say, bro."

Holding my arms at my sides, I followed my bros as we advanced on the Kraang-droids. I ran up to one and jumped up, landing on its head.

"Yoohoo!"

The droid glanced up as I swung my kamas down and shoved them into the robot's eye sockets. I leaped up as the droid fell down, and I landed on another one. A Kraang infornt of us saw me and tried to fire at me. But I jumped, and the droid ended up shooting his buddy instead.

"That's not very nice!"

I threw my kama at the droid, and the blade sung into its chest, making sparks fly. I landed on top of the thing, making it fall to the ground. I used my other kama to slice off its head. I grabbed both of my kamas and stood up.

I looked around in time to see Donnie being cornered by Metalhead. The drone was firing at him without mercy. Donnie ducked, and one of the shots hit his staff, causing it to snap.

"Not again!" he groaned.

"You got this, Don!" I yelled at him.

I quickly swung my kamas up and they stuck through the arms of the Kraang-droid who was standing behind me. I pulled my arms forward and forced the droid to the ground in front of me. I stabbed its head with my kama, and the alien inside scurried out.

"Just come get me!"

I whipped my head around in time to see Metalhead firing tiny, but deadly bullets at Donnie. Said turtle ran forward, dodging all of the bullets as they exploded when they hit the metal supporters and crates. Metalhead fired its laser, but Donnie managed to jumped over the drone, avoiding the shots. Metalhead continued to fire though, his lasers going up and hitting ceiling. Donnie landed behind Metalhead, but the drone turned to face him. Suddenly, the supporter from the other side of the room started coming down towards Metalhead, and…

"Donnie!" I screamed.

But Donnie held his staff up just as the supporter fell down on him. The strength of the staff was enough to keep the metal from falling and crushing the turtle. And that's not all. As the dust cleared, ping sparks seemed to be shooting out from the other end of Donnie's staff. When all the dust was gone, the truth could be seen. Metalhead was crouched in front of Donnie, forced down by the metal supporter, and the wooden staff was shoved into his metal chest.

"Booyahkasha!" Donnie yelled.

I giggled. "That a' boy, D!"

"Sounds weird when he says it," Mikey commented.

"Sounds weird when _you _say it," Raph told him.

"That which is the revenge will be had on those who call themselves 'the turtles and the girl…'"

Finally, Metalhead powered down. The Kraang alien then jumped off and landed on Donnie's face. Donnie yelled, and the alien hopped off and scrambled away. We all walked up to Donnie.

"Thanks a bunch, D," I said as I helped him to his feet.

"Nice job, bro!" said Mikey.

"Way to go, Donnie!" said Leo.

"Yeah, not bad," said Raph, then he frowned. "Except for that part where you built that thing in the first place. And the part where it broke. And the part where it tried to kill us. And the part-"

"Okay! I get it!" Donnie snapped.

"Guys, please," I groaned. "No fighting. Lets just go home, 'kay?"

They agreed, and we left the building.

* * *

Man, it felt so good to be home. The others clearly thought so, too. Well, I assume so. They were currently having a lot of fun playing one of our old arcade games. Raph was apparently trying and failing to beat Leo's high score. I wasn't in the mood for games, so I was sitting on the couch watching an episode of 'Impractical Jokers'. It was about to get to the part where one of the guys was going to be punished when I noticed someone sulking on the other end of the pit.

Donnie was sitting on the couch, a glum look on his face. I paused the TV and walked over to him.

"You okay, bro?" I asked him as I sat next to him.

He shrugged. "I've been better…"

He didn't look up at me. And I didn't look away. I grabbed him by his plastron and made him look at me.

"It wasn't your fault, Donnie," I told him. "You hear me? Don't start sulking just because you made a mistake."

"How can I not? You guys were almost killed, and it was because of something _I_ made!"

Donnie looked sad and hurt. I moved my hand from his plastron and placed it around his shoulders, rubbing his arm gently. I heard footsteps, and I glanced up to see Sensei standing behind us.

"What troubles you, Donatello?"

Donnie looked up at him, and sighed. "This was all my fault, Sensei."

"You are responsible, yes," said Sensei, and I stared at him.

"Yeah…" Donnie groaned.

"Responsible for destroying the mutagen," Sensei continued. "Responsible for saving the people of this city; responsible for defeating advanced technology using only ingenuity, bravery… and a stick."

I smiled up at Sensei, then down at Donnie.

"See?" I hugged him a little tighter. "Now quite being so glum!"

Donnie giggled as he hugged me back. Then he lowered his arms and stood up to look at Splinter.

"Thanks, Sensei," he said. "Maybe you're right."

"I am!"

I chuckled as I grabbed the remote and pressed play.

"I guess with proper training there's nothing better than a wooden stick," Donnie continued, and Sensei nodded.

_Finally, things can calm down for a bit._

"...Except a laser guided missile launching wooden stick!"

"Huh?"

I snapped my head up to see Donnie holding a wooden stick that had a missile attached to it. Donnie slammed the stick to the ground, and suddenly a loud beeping started sounding from it.

"It's not suppose to do that…!" Donnie yelled. "RUN…!"

At once the boys ran away from their game, and I jumped from the couch, abandoning the remote.

"DAMN IT, DONNIE!" I screamed as I ran towards the safety of my bedroom.


	12. Monkey Brains

**Hey, guys. Me again. Man, it's been a while since I've written anything up here, huh? Well, I just wanted to fill you guys in with a little warning.**

**I do not own TMNT, nor do I own the show 'Impractical Jokers.' The only things in the fanfic that I own are my OC's.**

**Just wanted to make sure that you got that. Okay, read on…**

* * *

Ch. 7  
Monkey Brains

"Afternoon, boys," I said as I entered the kitchen.

The only 'boys' in question where Leo and Raph. The latter was rummaging through the fridge, and the other was sitting by the table eating a sandwich.

"Sup?" Raph pointed into the fridge. "Juice?"

"Sure," I said as I took a seat across Leo.

"Where've you been?" Leo asked when his mouth wasn't full. "You disappeared when we finished training."

"Just listening to the T-pod in my room. Wanted a little peace after training."

"So, basically, you ditched us," Raph said bluntly as he set a cup of juice in front of me.

I snorted. "You said it, not me."

I sipped on my juice as Raph sat next to me. I looked around and noticed we were two turtles short.

"Where's Mikey and Donnie?" I asked.

"In the dojo," said Leo. "Donnie wanted to try some defenses."

"And he wouldn't let Mikey leave," Raph added.

"Hm… I think I'll go check on 'em."

I slipped out of my seat, still holding my juice, and walked out of the kitchen. I looked around the living room and the pit to make sure that the other two weren't there, and I made my way to the dojo. As I got closer I could hear the sounds of the two sparring. I went through the entrance, and walked into the dojo just in time to see Mikey doing a backflip over Donnie's head. The younger turtle landed on the floor and slide back more, giggling with glee.

"Nice back flip, dude," I called as I walked into the dojo more.

"Thank yah, sis!"

I giggled. Donnie, however, didn't look impressed.

"Dude, what are yah doing?" he asked his younger brother. "You don't defend against Seoi Nage with _backflips_!"

"Why not?" Mikey stood up, a grin on his face. "Backflips are where it's at!"

"The best defense is to roll along my back, then take me to the ground and put me in an arm-lock. Unless, of course, I counter with a-"

"Hey man!" Mikey cut across him. "You can't take the fire out of… _Hi-yaah! Dr. Flip-enstein!_"

Donnie frowned. "I don't even know what that means."

"You don't have to know," I stated simply. "Know why? 'Cause this is just Mikey being Mikey."

Donnie sighed, face palming. At that moment, Sensei walked out of his room. As he was crossing the dojo, Donnie ran up to him.

"Master Splinter, what would you do if someone tried to throw you with Seoi Nage?"

"I don't know."

I blinked. _Huh?_

"C'mon, you must've planned a response for every attack," Donnie insisted.

"If you think too much about what is coming, you lose sight of what is," Splinter said wisely. "You must be fully in the moment so you can fight without thinking."

"Why would I wanna fight without thinking?" Donnie asked, his tone suggesting that Sensei had suggested something completely absurd.

"Allow me to demonstrate…"

_Uh-oh…_

"Prepare to defend against Seoi Nage!"

_Bam! Flip! Crash!_

Within seconds Splinter had Donnie laying with his plastron against the floor, holding the turtles arms up to keep him pinned.

"_Ow!_" Donnie cried. "That wasn't Seoi Nage!"

Sensei chuckled. "No, but you _thought _it would be," he released his son, who sat up. "Now, would you like to prepare to defend against a spinning back kick?"

"No, I'm good!" Donnie groaned quickly.

Sensei stood straight and began to walk away. He stopped when he came by me, no doubt because I was covering my mouth to keep myself from bursting into laughter. But he could see it in my eyes, and gave me a warm smile before walking off.

I turned my head to see Mikey walking up to Donnie, who was still sitting on the floor.

"Heheh! Know what woulda worked there?" Mikey jumped closer, getting into his brother's face. "_Backflip!_"

Donnie rolled his eyes, groaning.

* * *

"He's still at it, isn't he?" I whispered.

Raph nodded. "Yup."

"Any idea what he's doing, dude?" asked Mikey.

"Nope," said Leo.

We were all looking over the corner, looking into Donnie's lab. Donnie was at his desk, apparently drawing some kind of map or list or something. I couldn't tell what it was from this distance. Then I straightened up and started to walk into the lab.

"Stealth, boys," I whispered to the others.

They grinned and followed me. We all slowly and stealthily walked towards Donnie, who appeared oblivious to our approach, still drawing away. It wasn't until I was standing in front of his desk that I could see what he was tracing. It appeared to be a very big, very complicated flowchart. Then, when the others were all standing around him, Leo took it upon himself to make our presence known.

"Whatcha up to, Donnie?"

Donnie gasped and looked up. He stared at all of us, surprised to see us there.

"Whatcha sketching?" I asked as I sat on the corner of his desk.

"I'm not sketching," he said.

I raised my eyebrow and glanced down at the chart. "Dude, there's pictures on there. You have definitely sketched."

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Okay, yes, I did."

"So, what are yah doing?" Raph asked.

"Just putting the finishing touches on my _master plan._"

Raph raised his brow. "Master plan?"

Donnie added another line to the chart. "Yeah, to get April to hang out with me."

Me and the guys instantly went into a fit of chuckles. Donnie frowned at us and went back to his chart.

"Try this," Leo suggested, smirking. ""April, do you want to hang out with me?""

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"Yeah, it's not that simple," Donnie told us as he continued to examine his chart. "I have to prepare for every possible response to maximize my chances of success."

"Aww… that's so romantic," Mikey sighed.

I shook my head. "Not exactly, Mikey."

"What do you mean?" Donnie asked, sounding a little worried.

I sighed. "Donnie, this whole chart idea is very sweet. And I think its amazing that you put so much work into asking out April…"

Donnie beamed at me.

"But, it's unnecessary," I told him, and his smile fell. "You don't have to beat yourself up with something as simple as asking a girl out."

"Why not?" Mikey asked. "How would you know?"

"Well…" I messed with my bangs. "I mean… if a guy was asking me to hang out, I'd want him to just ask without stressing himself over it."

"So," Raph folded his arms. "You'd want a guy to just be straight up with you about it?"

"Well… yeah."

"Hm."

Raph glanced at the ground, apparently deep in thought. But the look fell as he turned his shell to me.

"Take it from a girl's point of view, bro," I told Donnie as I turned to face him again. "You don't have to put yourself under so much stress for this."

"As always, I appreciate your advise, Nia," Donnie picked up his chart. "But I'm positive that this chart is gonna work."

I sighed. I looked over at Leo and shrugged, giving an 'I tried' sort of look. Donnie pinned his chart to his white board and rolled the thing over so it stood in front of us. I crossed one leg over the other and folded my arms as Donnie pulled out a long stick.

"Ahem… Yeah, for instance, if April says she can't because she has homework," Donnie pointed to a particular thread. "Then I will suggest an informal study session and offer healthy, brain stimulating snacks."

I raised my brow. "Yum."

"Well, what if she says she can't because you're a total nerd?" Raph asked gruffly.

"Ah! That's this thread, here!" Donnie pointed to said thread. "I will list my many _non-nerdy _qualities, and suggest activities that will highlight my coolness. Such as skateboarding or shark wrestling."

"That's romantic," I smiled, then mimicked Donnie's voice. "Hey, April! Wanna see me wrangle up a couple of sharks? It'll be fun!"

Raph and Mikey burst into laughter and Leo chuckled. Donnie frowned.

"I don't sound like that!"

"Aw Don, I'm sorry," I hopped off the desk. "But, c'mon. I was just busting your shell."

Donnie's frown fell, and he shrugged in a 'I know you are' sort of way. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by another voice.

"Guys!"

"April!" I said happily as we saw said redhead running in, holding her laptop.

Donnie gave a panicked yelp and flipped the board many times, trying to cover his flowchart. He grabbed it, and it finally stopped on the other side, where there was a movie poster that read "Space Heroes III: The Search for Mindstrong."

"H-hey… h-hey Ap- Hey, April," Donnie stuttered, smiling awkwardly.

April paid him no mind, and sat down at the desk, setting her laptop down and opening it.

"You guys gotta check this out!"

She typed away at the keys for a moment before a site came up. She clicked on a video, and it played.

"_Renowned neurochemistry, Dr. Tyler Rockwell has been reported missing. I spoke with Rockwell's colleague, Dr. Victor Falco."_

Then the image of a man, who appeared to be in his early 50s, with graying hair and wearing a lab coat came up.

"_I hadn't heard from him in days, so I stopped by his lab. The place was a mess, and he was gone. I fear the worst…"_

"_Police say that they have-"_

But April stopped the video and shut her laptop.

"So?" Raph asked.

"So, the Kraang have been kidnapping scientist from all over the city!" April explained. "Including my dad… Maybe that's what happened to this Rockwell guy."

"Or, they may not be connected at all," Leo said simply.

"There's only one way to find out," April stood up. "We should go to that lab and look around."

"April's right!" Donnie piped up. "We should go check it out! …What's that? You guys are busy?" he placed a hand on April's shoulder. "Guess it's just the two of us, April."

With that, Donnie began to lead her away. When she wasn't looking, Donnie turned back to us, giving us a thumbs up as he winked. I smiled, returned the thumbs up, and muttered, "way to go." Donnie grinned at me, and left the lab with April.

Once they were gone, Leo snorted as he walked up to the board.

"I bet that wasn't on his flowchart…"

He turned the board so he could look at the chart, and he stared.

"Wow… it is!"

"What?"

I walked over to him and looked at the board. There, at the bottom corner, was a cut little drawing of Donnie and April leaving the lair, and Nia and the others being left behind.

"That… is spooky," Leo muttered.

I backed away from the board, muttering the theme song from, "The Twilight Zone."

* * *

I don't know how I managed to get Leo to give me the remote while he was watching 'Space Heroes', but I did. Don't get me wrong, 'Space Heroes' is a pretty okay show, but it can't top 'Impractical Jokers,' which me, Mikey, and Raph were currently watching.

"_Walk forward," Murr told Q through the mic. "Right a little bit…"_

"_Little left, walk straight," said Joe. _

_Q, who was currently wearing blacked out sunglasses so he couldn't see, continues walking closer towards an unsuspecting couple, who are currently embracing._

"_Slow down- Stop!"_

"_Turn right…"_

_Q does as Joe tells him._

"_Say, "Can I get some of that action?""_

Me and Raph started chuckling at that.

"He ain't gonna say it," I told him, still giggling.

"I bet he does!" said Raph.

Mikey didn't say anything, but continued to watch with anticipation.

_The couple starts to make out. Q pauses…_

"_Say it! Say it! Say it right now!" Joe persists._

"_Can I get some of that action?" Q asks._

I hollered with excitement as Raph and Mikey burst into laughter.

"I knew it!" he pointed at the screen. "I knew he'd say it!"

"I can't believe he said it!" I shrieked.

"Dudes! That is _awesome_!"

Just as we settled down from our fit of laughter, I heard the coin eaters turn. Still smiling, I turned my head, expecting to see Donnie and April to walk in looking successful. What I didn't expect was to see April supporting Donnie, who appeared to be limping.

"Donnie!"

I jumped up from the couch and ran up to them. Donnie was covered from head to foot in black and blue bruises and quite a few scratches. He had a pained expression on his face as he rubbed his head gingerly.

"Donnie, are you okay?" I asked.

But his only response was a painful groan.

"Whoa, what happened?" Raph asked.

"Donnie got beat up by a lab monkey," said April.

I stared. _Is she serious? _The others didn't seemed phased by this though. Leo and I went forward at the same time; he put Donnie's arm around his own neck, and I held Donnie's other arm.

"April, can you get an icepack?"

April nodded, and ran for the kitchen. Leo and I slowly and carefully lead Donnie to the pit.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow…"

We gently placed Donnie on the couch, and he laid back on his shell. I went over and sat by his feet.

"You alright, D?" I asked as I patted his kneepad.

"Yeah…" he groaned. "I think so…"

"Donnie, you gonna be okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah… yeah, I'll be fine…"

Leo nodded. "In that case…"

Suddenly, Leo, Raph, and Mikey burst into incredible fits of laughter. I started at them. I knew perfectly well why they were laughing. I'll admit, it is kind of funny, but that didn't mean I approved of their current attitude towards this.

"You got beaten up by a _monkey_?" Raph exclaimed, still laughing. "In front of your _girlfriend_?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Donnie snapped. "And that monkey was a vicious mutant!"

"A mutant?" I asked.

"Yes! And he went crazy on me!"

"Yeah!" Leo laughed. "I'm sure he went _bananas_!"

The boys burst into more laughter. Leo shook his head.

"No! No, no, no! He went _ape_!"

By now the 3 turtles were all wiping tears of laughter from their eyes. I frowned at them, feeling irritated.

"Guys, knock it off. This isn't funny."

"Yes, it is!" Mikey bellowed.

I shook my head. _Oh, brother…_ I glanced up, and I saw April coming over, and icepack in her hands. She didn't look too pleased, either.

Raph was the next one t notice April, and when he did, he gave his bros a 'shut up now' motion with his hands.

"No more monkey puns," he said.

At once, all the boys had instant poker faces on, not even looking as though they had just laughed their heads off. April frowned at them all before sitting down on the couch, and she placed Donnie's head in her lap. He giggled quietly, smiling as she put the icepack on his head. I couldn't help but grin. _Nice one, Don._

"Are you laughing at him because he's hurt?" April asked irritably.

"No," said Mikey. "We were laughing at him 'cause he got hurt by a… _monkey_!"

Mikey reared his head back and fell onto his shell, laughing his head off once more.

* * *

It's been a full day since the monkey incident, and the guys were still laughing about it. Donnie had healed up just fine, but he was still upset about it. And I understood why. Mutant or not, he still got his shell kicked by a monkey.

Donnie was currently kneeling in front of the water pit, completely still. I sighed. I bent over and slipped out of my dark blue sneakers. I took off my socks and set them down before walking over to him.

"Hey, Donnie," I sat down next to him and stuck my feet into the water. "What's up?"

Donnie glanced over at me, and shrugged. "Eh…"

I sighed. "Look, Don… The others are just acting kinda jerky right now. There's no need to feel bad."

Donnie sighed. "I know, know. It's just… I just don't get it. I'm a highly trained martial artist. How could I lose to something so… _mindless_!"

Donnie raised his fist and punched the water. I flinched slightly as a few flecks hit my face.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Look, it doesn't matter if you got beaten by that thing," I put a hand on his shoulder. "Your still the smartest out of all of us, aren't you?"

He didn't answer, but stared into the water.

"Lavinia is right, Donatello," Sensei's voice said. "You are very intelligent."

We both turned to look up at the rat.

"But in a fight, you cannot be… up here."

Sensei pointed to his own head. Donnie stood up.

"But I just don't understand how you can fight without thinking," he said.

At that moment we saw Mikey starting to walk up. He had his eyes closed, and a smile on his face. He was doing a little dance, and we could hear music coming out of the T-Pod. Yes, I know Donnie made the T-pod for me. But, me being the sweet sister I am, I agreed to let Mikey use it from time to time.

"Observe…" said Sensei.

Mikey continued dancing along, oblivious as to where he was heading. Then, when he was right in front of Sensei, the ran advanced. Splinter aimed a punch, but Mikey bent backward and went under the arm. Splinter aimed another, and Mikey backflipped out of the way. Sensei aimed for a final punch, and Mikey simply blocked it with his arm.

Did I mention that he didn't even open his eyes? Because he didn't, not even once. And he was still humming and dancing to whatever music he was playing.

"Wow," I said, staring at Mikey.

Donnie was staring, too, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide.

"You see?" said Sensei. "Mikey does not think."

Mikey, who had pulled out one of the earbuds, grinned.

"Thank you," he said.

"Your welcome."

But as Mikey started to dance away, Sensei moved his tail in front of the young turtle's feet. Mikey tripped, and yelled as he went flying. I winced, but when I realized he was okay, I grinned.

"And he sticks the landing," I said nonchalantly.

"You must find the space between your thoughts and learn to live there," Sensei told Donnie. "That's what Michelangelo does."

"True, but…" Donnie looked at his younger brother. "Mikey's got a lot more space between his thoughts than I do."

Mikey sniffed the air. He reached back behind his shell and pulled out something small.

"Pepperoni!"

And he ate it. I scrunched my nose. _Eh..._

"Yes, well…" Sensei paused. "Michelangelo has his challenges, too."

* * *

We were all sitting in the living room a little while later. Raph was sitting on the edge of the pit while reading a magazine, me and Donnie were sitting in front of the TV, and Leo and Mikey appeared to be sparring. April was sitting on the couch, looking at her laptop. Apparently, she was looking at the files that were in the flash drive Donnie had swiped off of Rockwell's desk.

"Guys, I think I found something," April said after a while.

Feeling curious, I stood up and hurried over and looked at the screen, and so did the others.

"These notes are hard to follow… but it looks like Rockwell was able to modify the mutagen."

"Why would he do that?" Leo asked.

"He thought he could use it to create a neuro-chemical that would temporarily give someone psychic abilities," April explained.

"You mean that monkey was psychic?" Raph asked.

April shook her head. "It's more like he was reading our emotions. After all, he was only hostile when Donnie was hostile."

"Yeah, well next time I'll be sure to think friendly thoughts while I'm beatin' a little sunshine into him," Donnie said, smacking a fist into his palm.

"Okay, we need to track him down before he attacks someone else," said Leo. "Let's go up to the surface, spread out, and search."

Raph frowned. "How're we gonna stay in contact?"

"I have a little something that might help," said Donnie.

He stood up, a proud look on his face. He walked over to stand in front of us, hands on his sides.

"Gentlemen! And ladies…"

I grinned.

"I give you… the T-Phone!"

Donnie lifted his arm up to reveal a hand-sized cell phone that was shaped to look like a turtle shell, and a cute, little retro ringtone was coming from the speakers. (A/N: aka; the '87 turtles theme song J )

"Cool!" I said, staring at the thing.

"Dude, _I'm _in charge of naming' stuff," Mikey stood up. "I would've called it… _the T-Phone_."

Donnie raised his brow. "I did call it the T-Phone…"

"Yeah, but _I _would've called it the T-Phone…" Mikey said, sounding upset.

Raph then took it upon himself to smack his younger brother's head with his comic.

"And, April," Donnie held out the T-Phone to her. "If you give me your cell number I can patch you into our network."

"Sweet!"

April took the phone and started typing in her number. Donnie beamed, doing a little fist pump.

"See that?" he whispered so that only me and Raph could hear. "I got her number!"

"Her number's on the fridge, yah dork."

Donnie scowled, and I patted his shell.

"Better luck next time, Donnie," I whispered to him.

* * *

"_Guys! Someone just spotted the monkey on Bleaker!" _I heard April's voice through my T-Phone.

"I think me and Nia are on his trail," Raph said into his phone.

We ran and leaped over a couple of rooftops before we spotted the creature.

"There he is!" I said, pointing.

"We got eyes on him," Raph said. "He's heading south on Delancy!"

"That's affirmative!" I added into my phone.

"_I'm on Houston!" _said Donnie. _"I'll cut him off!"_

Keeping a tight grip on my phone, I followed Raph as we ran across the rooftops. From way far ahead, I saw Donnie's figure suddenly stop.

"Donnie, you still see him?" I asked through my phone.

"_No, I lost him!"_

"_He changed direction!" _Leo said. _"Mikey, the monkey is heading your way!"_

"_I'm on it!"_

Me and Raph changed courses, and began running towards Mikey's location. Not long after that though, we spotted the monkey running in the street. Mikey must've lost him.

"He's getting away!" I shouted.

"Oh no, he's not!"

Raph flipped off the edge of the roof, slide down the fire escape, and landed in the street. I quickly did the same and landed on the ground just as Raph was charging at the monkey into an alley. I followed close enough to see Raph jump over the large wall. I quickly jumped up, leaped off the side of the building, and jumped over the wall. I could see Raph up ahead, but I couldn't see the monkey.

Me and Raph were running around the corner just as Leo appeared, jumping down and landing next to us. We all continued running, trying to catch up to the animal. But, after a few more minutes of running, we got to the open end of an alley, and ran right into April, Donnie, and Mikey.

"Did you guys see wehre he went?" Leo asked.

"I thought he went off in that direction," Donnie said, pointing to the right.

"I thought it was that way," Raph said, pointing to the left.

Next thing I knew all the boys were arguing about which way the monkey could've gone. I sighed. _At this rate we'll never find him. _I glanced over to look at April, and was surprised to see her walking into the alley.

"April?"

"Shh…"

I raised my brow, and slowly followed her. When she started to head for a dumpster I was going to ask her what she was doing, when I heard it. A soft, whimpering sound seemed to be coming from the inside of the dumpster. April and I exchanged glanced before walking forward. April grabbed the lid and slowly lifted it up. The monkey was inside, trying to hide. The second he saw us he backed up, trying to keep away. He looked so… frightened.

"Hey, it's okay," I said gently. "We're not gonna hurt you."

The monkey stared up at me, eyes wide. He looked over at April, who smiled and held her hand out. The monkey hesitated, then slowly grabbed her hand. He looked over at me, as though waiting for something. I grinned and held my hand out for him. He grabbed it, and me and April helped him out of the dumpster. The monkey stood there, staring at us for a moment.

Suddenly, a kusariagama chain shot out and wrapped around the monkey, pinning his arms to his sides. The creature roared, barring his sharp teeth.

"Ah-ha! Got yah that time!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Great, we got the monkey," said Raph. "But we're not any closer to finding Dr. Rockwell."

The monkey roared in April's face, making her back up. When he calmed down she walked up to him, examining his face. Then she blinked.

"Actually…" she turned to face us. "We're a lot closer than you think."

"What? How?" Donnie asked.

April gestured to the monkey. "I think this _is_ Dr. Rockwell."

We all turned to stare at the calming monkey.

* * *

Dr. Falco was surprisingly calm when me and all of my bros came into his lab. He had already met Donnie and April the other night when they went to search in Rockwell's lab, so I suppose most of the shock had worn off by now.

The second we came in we explained to him that the monkey actually was Dr. Rockwell. He instructed us to get Rockwell into a large chair, where he was strapped in. The second this happened, Rockwell started thrashing and hooting, trying to get out. Falco quickly took out a syringe and stuck it into Rockwell's arm. The mutant stopped hooting, his breathing slowed down, and his eyes finally closed.

"There, that should calm him down a little," Falco walked closer to the monkey. "Poor Rockwell…"

"Is there any way to get him back to normal?" April asked.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," Falco said sadly, and he placed a hand on Rockwell's head. "But I'll see if there's a way to give him some supplants of a normal life."

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that the sad look on his older face was genuine. But something about the look in his eyes didn't sit well with me. It was that feeling I got whenever I felt that someone was lying. I've never been wrong about these things, but, at the same time, I didn't want to say anything right now incase it stirred up something bad.

Besides, what if this is the one time that my senses wrong?

* * *

We were all now sitting in the kitchen, waiting for our dinner to arrive. I was listening to some music on my new T-Phone so I could hear how well it worked, and Mikey was playing a game on his.

"Man, this asteriod field is tough!" Mikey grumbled irritably. "I just can't beat it!"

"Pizza's here!" Raph called out as he entered the kitchen.

"Sweet!" I exclaimed, setting down my phone and clapping my hands together.

Raph set the box down on the table, and he, Leo and I each grabbed a piece. The steam issued out of the box and wafted over towards Mikey. His head snapped up, and his sniffed the air. _Here it comes…_

"Must eat pizza… but can't stop playing…" Mikey leaned over to the box. "But must eat pizza! But can't stop playing! _But must eat pizza! AAHHH…!_"

Mikey slammed his face into the pizza bot, letting out a loud, "nom." He sat back up, a pizza shoved halfway into his mouth, and started playing his game again. _I wonder if that's what all gamers do, _I asked myself.

"Sorry we didn't get any closer to finding your dad, April," said Leo.

"Yeah," I added. "I feel kinda suckish because of it."

"It's okay," she said gently. "Everything we learned about the Kraang is another piece of the puzzle."

"Yeah, but… psychic research?" Leo shook his head. "This is one weird puzzle."

At that moment Sensei walked up, holding a plate with a single slice of pizza.

"I am curious, April," he said. "How did you know the monkey was really a human?"

April paused. "…I don't know. Sometimes I just… get a feeling about things."

"A feeling? Hmm… interesting."

With that, Sensei walked away to enjoy his dinner. We all did the same, instantly chowing down on our own slices. It was when I was down to the crust of my own piece that I noticed Donnie wasn't eating, but was looking at his laptop.

"Hey Donnie, how come you're not eating?" Leo asked.

"There's only once slice left, dude," grabbed the box and shifted it closer to him. "Don't you want it?"

"Wha…? Oh, I'm not hungry…"

I frowned and let go of the box. Since when do any of my bros turn away a good slice of pizza? Especially the _last_ slice?

"Something's been bothering me… Falco said that Rockwell was experimenting on a monkey…"

Leo raised his brow. "And…?"

"Well, according to these notes… he never had a monkey in his lab. He was just using samples monkey DNA."

Leo shook his head. "We're still not following you."

I sat up straight. "I think I know where this is going…"

"If he never had a monkey…" Donnie looked at us. "What broke out of that cage?"

We all paused, thinking it over…

"It must've been Rockwell!" piped up Raph.

Donnie scowled. "Which means Falco put him there, and he's been lying this whole time!"

I groaned, silently cursing myself. _You knew he was lying, Nia! You knew!_

* * *

It was bad enough that we had to go stop Falco, not it was raining and lightening as well? Could the situation get anymore cliché?

We quickly got back to the building where Falco was. When we entered the room we could see Rockwell still strapped to the chair, apparently unconscious. Falco was standing in the middle of the room, holding a syringe that was filled with bright liquid. He brought the needle to his neck, and I cringed as he injected himself. He retracted the needle, and when he opened his eyes they were bloodshot and crazy. Just like a mad scientist.

"Alright, Falco!" Leo pointed to the scientist. "We've had enough of your-"

"_Do not _say monkeying around," Raph cut across him.

"I wasn't going to…"

"Yes, you were," said Falco.

He dropped the syringe and walked up to us, a smirk on his face.

"It's over, Falco!" Donnie declared. "We know it was you who mutated Rockwell!"

Falco's smirk widened. "I used him as a guinea pig…"

"Well, it didn't work!" said Mikey. "You turned him into a _monkey_."

I sighed. "Oh, boy…"

"The psychic neuro-chemical I extracted from his mutant brain is changing me," said Falco. "Your minds are opening up to me."

"You stuck that needle in his brain?!" I exclaimed, and when his smirk widened even more I yelled, "Jesus Christ, you're _crazy_!"

"So, this was your plan all along," said Donnie.

"Of course! No man can defeat you when you know his every thought."

"Oh really?" Raph growled. "Then you must know I'm gonna smack-"

"Smack the white off my lab coat?" Falco chuckled. "How _humorous._"

"_Lucky guess!_"

Raph yelled and charged forward at Falco, who didn't move. Raph spun around and made to kick the man in the head. But, Falco simply ducked, and backed away. Raph stared.

"What?" he snapped.

Falco grinned evilly. Then he lifted his hand and made a 'come hither' motion with his finger. Raph yelled and charged forward again. He tried to kick once more, and Falco dodged it. Raph tried to punch him, but Falco moved again. The scientist chuckled, making a soft "tsk, tsk, tsk," sound.

"Oh God…" I muttered.

Raph ran forward and made to punch him again, but Falco still dodged. This time, he spun around and grabbed one of Raph's sai's. He reared his arm back and used the end of the weapon to knock Raph down. Raph hit the floor, and Falco kicked him. Raph shot back, knocking over Donnie and Mikey.

"Guys!"

I ran over and kneeled next to them, making sure they were alright. They all groaned as they got off of one another. Raph stayed on the ground, but Mikey and Donnie both stood up. I turned, and saw that Leo had advanced on Falco. But no matter how many times Leo swung, the Falco would always doge every blow.

"Wow… it's like he's psychic!" said Mikey.

"He _is _psychic, shell brain!" Donnie said exasperatingly. "That's what he just said."

"Oh, yeah… I kinda tuned out when he did his whole 'I'm evil, blah blah blah' thing."

Suddenly, our attention was brought back to the fight when Falco blocked an oncoming blow using Raph's sai. He pushed them over, and knocked the katanas out of Leo's grip. The weapons spun out of control and we leaped out of the way to avoid being hit. I looked up in time to see Leo fall to the ground. Falco had knocked him out.

"That's it!" I yelled.

I reached down and withdrew my tessen, opening it up and running towards Falco. He smirked, holding his arms at his sides. I was right in front of him when I swung my tessen up towards his face. But he dodged it. I groaned with annoyance as I swung my fan to the left, then to the right, and both times Falco dodged.

"Amazing!" he said suddenly as he dodged a kick I had aimed for his head. "The increased level of your protective instincts are incredible!"

I yelled as I threw my tessen at him, and he ducked under it.

"My my… I dare say your instincts are at a 97.5, and that's the very least!" he chuckled darkly. "Too bad that I can see every instinctive move you throw at me."

I ran up to him and aimed a punch at his face, then another at his chest. Both blows he managed to dodge and black. I spun around and aimed a kick that should've hit the side of his face, but he grabbed my ankle with his hand. Then he raised his other elbow, and brought it down onto my thy. Hard.

"Ah!"

I yelled in pain as I stumbled to the ground. I barley glanced up before Falco reared his leg up and kicked me in the chest. I grunted as I was pushed back towards Donnie and Mikey, tumbling to a stop.

"Nia!"

Donnie kneeled down beside me, placing a hand on my back.

"You okay?"

"Ugh… been better…"

I groaned, clutching at my painful chest. Donnie rubbed my back softly, then glared over at Falco.

"How are we gonna defeat him if he can read our minds?" I heard Donnie asked.

"No problem," said Mikey. "I'm good at this. I just have to fight without thinkin'."

_Never thought I'd say this, but thank God Mikey never thinks!_

"Wait a minute… How _do _I find without thinkin'? Oh no! Now I'm thinkin' about _not _thinkin'!"

_Bang!_ I looked up in time to see Mikey fall to the floor, unconscious. Falco stood over him, Raph's sai still held tightly in his hand. Donnie stood up and started to back away as Falco started to walk towards him.

"A man who can read minds is unstoppable," Falco stepped over me. "Once I dispose of you, _no one_ will be able to stand in my way!"

"We'll see about that!"

Donnie withdrew his Bo staff and charged at Falco. He swung his staff once, twice, three times, and Falco managed to dodge every one of them. He threw Raph's sai at Donnie, who used his staff to dodge it. He lunged his staff forward, trying to hit Falco's torso. But the scientist simply grabbed the staff, spun around, and threw Donnie to the side. The turtle hit the wall and fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"I really must admire that complex brain of yours!" said Falco. "You come up with so many ideas! Too bad I can see them all coming. By the way… do you _really_ think you have a chance with April?"

I gasped. _Oh hell no! _a voice yelled in my head. _That was way below the belt! _From here I could see that Donnie looked angry, but he closed his eyes.

"I can do this…" he whispered. "I just have to fight without thinking. No thinking…"

Falco laughed evilly. _C'mon, Donnie…_

"Don't think… Just do…"

Donnie opened his eyes, and smirked at Falco. Then, without hesitation, he charged forward. For the first time since arriving, Falco looked surprised.

Donnie spun around twice, and each turn ended with a kick; one to Falco's face, and one to his chest. And this time, they weren't dodged. Falco growled and charged forward, but Donnie put his leg out and tripped the man. Then he raised his fist high, punching Falco in the process. Then he took a step forward and kicked his foot out, kicking Falco in the back. Falco turned and went for once more punch, but just as he swung, Donnie jumped up… and _backflipped _over Falco. I grinned. _Way to backflip, Donnie._

Donnie landed on the side of the wall, and pushed himself out. He did a corkscrew motion in the air, all while punching Falco in the torso several times before hitting him with such force, that the man was pushed back into the large cage in the wall.

Donnie grabbed his Bo staff and sheathed it. I groaned slightly as I stood up, and I looked around to see that the other had come to, as well. We all walked towards our purple-banded brother.

"Wow, Donnie! Nice work!" said Raph, looking genuinely impressed.

"Ha! What'd I tell yah about those backflips, huh?" Mikey smirked as he picked up the canister of mutagen. "Pretty cool…"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Now that we have the ooze, let's see what Falco knows about the Kraang."

We all turned towards the cage, but gasped when we saw it was empty.

"Falco's gone!" said Donnie.

Suddenly, there were strangled grunts coming from the room. Rockwell had woken up.

"What do we do about him?" Mikey asked.

Nobody answered. Then Donnie went up and unlocked the braces that kept Rockwell strapped into the chair. The monkey jumped out of the chair and leaped towards the window. He opened it up, paused, then looked over at us.

"I'm no psychic," said Donnie. "But I think he's trying to thank us."

I smiled. "I think so, too."

The monkey stared at us for a few moments before finally jumping out of the window.

"Um… if he reacts to angry thoughts, is New York City _really _the best place for him?" Raph asked, sounding skeptical.

I froze. We didn't think about that part. Suddenly, there was the sound of a car horn outside.

"Hey, monkey! Get out-!"

But the yelling was cut off by a loud crashing sound, followed by a monkey hooting and a man screaming. There was the sound of a car crashing, and we all flinched.

"I'm sure he'll be okay…" Leo said, but he didn't sound too sure of himself.

* * *

Once again, everything was as normal as could be in the lair. I didn't know where Mikey and Leo were, but I knew Raph was in the living room reading a comic, and Donnie was up to something in his lab. Feeling a little bored, I decided to go see what Sensei was up to. I went over to the entrance of the dojo, and I could see Sensei and April sitting inside, evidently talking.

"April, it seems you have a rare gift," said Sensei. "A sensitivity I have trained my entire life to develop."

"Don't worry, you'll get it," April said sweetly.

"I did! It just took me a long time."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of."

I snorted, but quickly covered my mouth.

"What I am trying to say," Sensei continued. "Is that I would like to train you to be a kunoichi; a female ninja."

I gasped, my heart bursting with excitement. April as a kunoichi? That would be awesome! April must've been thinking the same thing, because she had a huge smile on her face.

"You mean, like Nia?"

Splinter nodded, smiling. "Yes. Just like Lavinia."

"Wow… that's quite an honor!" said April. "If I do this… does that mean I can kick everybody's butt?"

I shook my head. _Tsk, tsk… That's a rookie comment, April._

"We don't believe in using our abilities that way," Sensei said seriously.

"Oh! Oh, yeah! Me neither…" April paused. "…But I could, right?"

Sensei chuckled. "Yes… but I warn you, it will not be easy," he said more seriously. "You will be trained just as Lavinia has been, and I will give you the same warning I gave her seven years ago when I agreed to train her. Training to be a kunoichi will be the hardest thing you've ever done. It will drain mentally, physically, and spiritually…"

"Well, can't be worse than high school."

I keeled over and let out a laugh that I simply couldn't hold in anymore. Oh, man! April is gonna _love _training.

"Eavesdropping again, Lavinia?"

That shut me up. I straightened up and turned. Sensei and April where both looking at me, but neither looked upset.

"Erm… my bad," I said sheepishly as I took a few steps in. "I was just, um… bored."

"I can help with that," April stood up. "Let's got see if Raph's done beating on the pinball game."

I chuckled, and nodded. April came over and walked out of the dojo.

"See yah, Sensei," I called.

Splinter nodded his head, and I walked out.

"So," I said. "Pretty cool, Sensei offering to teach you to be a kunoichi."

"Yeah, totally!" April looked at me. "Hey, um… I hope you don't think I'm trying to step on anyone's toes or anything, but…"

I let out a loud laugh that startled her.

"Honey, listen," I said. "I love my bros to death. They're my best friends and my family. But It's been _so nice_ having another girl to talk to, even if I'm a little more tomboyish than you. The fact that you're gonna be a kunoichi is even better."

April's face went blank with shock. Then a wide smile grew on her face.

Me and her went through the living room, past Raph, who was still reading his comic.

"Hey, April…"

We both turned, and Donnie stood in the doorway of his lab. He had a confident grin on his face as he leaned against the doorframe coolly.

"You, ah… wanna hang out, tonight?"

I blinked in surprise, then grinned slyly at my brother. _Finally._

"That sounds great, Donnie," said April. "But, I can't. I'm training with Splinter to be a kunoichi."

Donnie's jaw fell, and he looked disappointed. When he heard the part about the kunoichi though, his face brightened.

"Oh…"

Then he poked his head back into his lab. I could hear him muttering to himself, and I had a positive feeling that he was examining his flowchart. The thought made me smirk. When Donnie poked his head back out, he had a smooth smirk on his nerdy face.

"Well, then… maybe we can train together sometime…"

"Sounds great!" April said, smiling.

She turned, started to walk away.

"Coming, Nia?"

"In a sec."

April continued on. I waited until she was out of earshot before running up to Donnie.

"Dude, that was awesome!" I exclaimed, giving him a high three.

"I know!" he beamed. "Yah see? Haha! My flowchart is _awesome_! _Oww!_"

"You guys both dorks," Raph said, not looking up from his comic.

But Donnie wasn't even paying attention, and I was too happy for him to care.

* * *

**Well, I hope you liked that. I'm gonna try to get these chapters in as quick as possible so I can at least **_**try **_**to catch up to the current episodes. Hell, I'm probably still gonna be in the middle of Season 2 by the time I get to college next year. Aw well… it a writer's life for me, eh?**

**As always, please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. And, if you happen to have any ideas I am more than willing to listen to them. I have already taken up several ideas from a fellow writer of mine(You know who you are ;) ). I'll see y'all later then!**


	13. Never Say Xever

Ch. 8  
Never Say Xever

I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I was being stalked by my own brothers. Of course, I knew they were there and exactly where they were hiding, but it was still creepy. And ridiculous. April seemed to be on my side, because she suddenly stopped walking and turned.

"You guys wanna speed it up a little?" she said irritably.

"Yeah," I folded my arms. "The streets are completely blank. You don't have to slow us down 'cause you're paranoid."

"Are you guys saying turtles are slow?" Donnie accused, peeking his head out from behind the ticket booth of the theater we were passing.

"That's a hurtful stereotype," Mikey said, sounding offending, he and Raph poking their heads out from the other side of the ticket booth.

"C'mon, Mikey," I said sweetly. "You know I didn't mean that. But, come on, the streets are completely empty. The least you could do is speed up."

"Trust us, guys," Leo said, hiding behind a wall outside the theater. "We are better off keeping a _low profile_. We find people treat us better when they don't know we exist."

I shrugged. "He does have a point."

"Sorry," April apologized. "I'm just so excited to get you out of the sewer for a change."

"What are you talkin' about?" Raph asked. "We go out all the time."

"And I see Vanessa and Angus every other day," I added, frowning at her.

"Yeah, but tonight, you're gonna do something _besides_ hitting people."

"Aww…" Raph whined.

"Come on, Raph," I walked over and patted his shoulder. "Give it a chance. It might be fun."

"Yeah, don't worry," said April. "You're gonna love this noodle place I found."

"And you're sure we'll be welcomed?" Donnie asked nervously, drumming his fingers.

April nodded. "Oh, yeah. Mr. Murakami doesn't care what you look like. In fact, he won't even _know _what you look like. He's blind!"

"Awesome!" said Mikey, and then yelped when Raph smacked his head. "I mean… for us, obviously."

I rolled my eyes.

We were all able to arrive at the noodle shop soon without any issues. The second we got there, however, that's when things started to change. There appeared to be some kind of commotion going on. Loud crashes and bangs could be heard from outside, and several silhouettes were moving across the windows.

"Oh, no!" April cried.

She ran forward towards the shop, and we all followed her. We stopped when we reached the window.

"Who're those creeps?" Donnie asked.

"The Purple Dragons," April said, sounding disgusted. "They think they own the streets around here."

I peered through the window to look inside. There were three dudes inside; a really big, bulky on, a really skinny one with a goatee, and a tall one with a mustache. They were completely wrecking the place. They were throwing pans and breaking glass decorations.

The goatee man smirked, tapping the shoulder of an old, Chinese man wearing a white hat, who could only be Mr. Murakami. The old man turned towards the gang member, holding a wooden cutting board by the handle. Then he snapped the board out, and smacked goatee man back. He grasped throat, gasping for air as his two buddies laughed at him. Goatee growled, and charged at Murakami. He backhanded the man, and the poor guy fell to the ground.

"Not cool," I snarled.

"So much for not hitting people tonight," said Leo.

Raph smirked. "Oh well!"

Then, taking a few steps back, we all charged forward and burst through the door.

"Booyakasha!" Mikey shouted.

The three Dragons turned to face us, and each had the same shocked expression on their faces as they caught site of the boys.

"Alright, let him go," Leo told them. "You don't want any trouble."

"We, on the other hand, _do_!" Raph growled.

"You should listen him," I told the dude seriously. "He loves hitting things, and he doesn't need a reason to."

"Whoa, those guys were serious!" Goatee told his buddies. "They really _are_ giant turtles!"

I froze. These dudes knew about my bros? How?

"You've heard of us?" Mikey beamed at us. "Dudes, we're famous!"

"That's bad!" Donnie snapped.

"Oh… right."

"Whatever you are, this neighborhood is _ours_!" said Goatee. "So why don't you slither back to the ocean you came from? And you!" he pointed at me. "You better run back home to your mommy."

I glared at him.

"Actually, we're _fresh water _turtles," Donnie corrected in his nerdy, scientific voice. "I suspect we're derived from the diamondback terrapin, but it's possible we're a common body-"

"Get 'em!" Goatee shouted.

At once, the man with the mustache picked up a hammer and charged across the counter towards Leo. Leo ducked in time to miss the blow. The man jumped and swung again, but missed. At that moment, Mikey jumped onto Leo's shell and kicked Mustache in the chest. The younger turtle spun in the air and aimed another kick to the guy's torso, causing him to slam into the opposite wall.

I saw movement out the corner of my eye, and I jumped out of the way in time to miss the large cutting knife Goatee had aimed for my face.

"Ah-ah," I taunted. "That's strike one."

Goatee growled and ran at me, knife held in the air. He swung down and I jumped up at the last minute, shooting over him and landed behind him.

"Strike two…"

Goatee ran at me and tried to swing the knife down at me. But I crouched down and shot my let up, kicking the guy in the face. He shot backward and landed on the floor, the knife flying out of his hand.

"Strike three! You're out!" I shouted.

I laughed in his face as he sat up, glaring daggers at me. A second later, a few _real _daggers started flying at me. I yelped as I shifted back and forth, ducking and even jumping up to avoid being hit. Goatee stood up and reached for a butcher knife on the counter. I crouched down, ready to fight. That's when Leo stepped in.

The blue-banded leader shot forward and kicked Goatee in the chest. He stumbled back behind the counter, and Leo followed him. They stood there, and stared at each other for a moment. Then Goatee swung the butcher knife at Leo, but Leo simply smacked the weapon out of his hand. He then delivered two blows to the guy's chest before swinging his leg up and kicking the guy back onto the counter.

Leo jumped onto the counter and grabbed the guy by his black vest, holding him up against the wall. Leo reared his fist back, ready for a punch. The Purple Dragon flinched, closing his eyes. Leo blinked, and stared at him for a few moments. Then… he released him.

"Get outta here," Leo growled.

Goatee snorted and pushed passed Leo. He jumped off the counter and went to help his buddies up.

"C'mon, let's go!"

The two nodded and ran out of the shop. Goatee glared at Leo.

"This ain't over, Greenie!"

And with that, he left.

"Greenie? Really?" Donnie incredulously as Leo jumped down from the counter. "I wonder how many brain cells he put to work on that."

"He'd need a brain to have brain cells, Donnie," I said seriously.

Donnie chuckled.

"You just let him go?" Raph shouted, and I whipped around. "What the heck was that?!"

"They weren't exactly a threat," Leo said. "They'd had enough."

"_Dude_!" Raph yelled. "They were beating up a _blind guy_! There's no enough! Now they'll think we're wimps, and we don't have the guts to finish the job!"

"Raph, stop it!" I said sharply.

Raph turned away from me, folding his arms. Leo glanced at the ground, looking disappointed.

Before I could say anything April came back in, leading Mr. Murakami.

"Wow! That was great, you guys!"

"Thanks, April!" Donnie beamed. "Did you see when I caught the one guy and flipped him onto the counter? Did it look cool? Heheh… I bet it looked cool…!"

"The coolest!" April said, smiling widely.

Donnie's smiled suddenly fell.

"You didn't see it, did yah?" he asked bluntly.

"No, I did not."

I snorted slightly, but otherwise kept quiet out of respect for my brother.

"My friends," Mr. Murakami said in an old, gentle voice. "I am indebted to you. Please, allow me to make you a meal; free of charge."

"I think we can allow that," Raph said, grinning.

"What is your favorite dish?" the old man asked.

"PIZZA!" me and my bros yelled in unison.

April laughed, and Murakami nodded.

Within the next few minutes, Mr. Murakami was behind the counter with me and my four hungry bros watching. I was extremely impressed, to say the least. He moved and worked with incredible grace and effort for a blind guy.

"Mr. Murakami-san, that was _awesome_!" Donnie exclaimed.

"You're like a ninja, but for food!" Mikey said, beaming.

A few seconds later, five wooden trays were laid out in front of us, all of which carried several large dumplings.

"Pizza Gyoza!" Mr. Murakami said proudly.

"Pizza Gyoza?" April asked, confused.

I stared down at the dumplings placed before me as I picked up my chopsticks. I poked one curiously. I looked over to see my bros were all staring at them as well. But , after a second, we all picked up a dumpling and ate it. The second I popped it into my mouth it felt like my face exploded. I thought my eyeballs had popped out of my head and onto the counter.

"Sweet Mother of Holiness!" I exclaimed.

"It's like I got a one-way ticket to Flavor-ville!" said Donnie.

"This is really good too, you know," April said, holing up her bowl a noodles.

We all stared at her. Then I snorted as I went back to my dumplings, and so did the others.

"Uh, Murakami-san," Leo said after a few minutes. "Doe the Purple Dragons come around a lot?"

"Yes," the old chef sighed solemnly. "They demand protection money, but I _refuse_ to pay. They will surely return."

"Well, they wouldn't if somebody hadn't wimped out!" Raph said, glaring at his brother.

I looked over at Leo, expecting him to retaliate. But he didn't. He just sat there, looking ashamed.

Suddenly, I glanced over in time to see Mikey snatch the last three remaining dumplings off of Leo's tray. Leo sat up and stared at his tray, looking surprised. He snapped his head to his younger brother, now looking ticked. But Mikey just chewed in the dumplings, smiling.

We continued to eat for a while before it was time to go home. We all thanked Mr. Murakami for the free meal he had provided, and we walked out of the noodle shop.

"I better get home," said April. "My aunt'll get worried about me. Bye guys."

"Bye April," I said, waving.

She waved too, and continued down the sidewalk.

Me and the boys ran over to a building across the street and flipped up the fire escape to get to the roof. The second we were up there we started walking along, heading home. I stuck my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone, when I felt something. Now, I don't know why, but I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. By someone _besides _any of my bros.

Curiously, I slowed my walking and turned around. I couldn't see anybody on the roof, but I could sense an extra pair of eyes on me. I turned my head a little until I was looking down at the roof of Murakami's shop, and that's when I saw it.

A pair of what looked like shining, purple eyes looking up at me.

"Nia, what's the hold up?" Raph called.

I whipped my head forward. All of the boys were now several feet away, now standing by the ledge of the roof.

"Guys," I called, and I was surprised at how calm my voice was. "I... I think someone's watching us."

"What?" Leo called. "Where?"

"There!"

I turned and pointed back at the roof of Murakami's, at the spot where the eyes had been. But they were gone.

"Wha... Huh?"

"You must be _really _tired, Nia," Raph said as he grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. "You're starting to see things."

I didn't respond. As Raph led me back towards the others I turned my head to glance back at the roof where the eyes had been. Perhaps it was just my imagination? Still... it felt real...

* * *

"Don't you ever watch anything else?" Donnie asked me as he shifted in the beanbag chair.

"Does Leo like watching anything besides 'Space Heroes'?" I asked smartly.

That shut Donnie up. I grinned at his blank expression and turned back to my episode of 'Impractical Jokers.' From behind me, I could still hear Leo punching the dummy. I glanced over, seeing him as he delivered hit after hit, each blow becoming more powerful than the last.

"Wow wow, Leo!" Raph stood out from behind the dummy. "I think he's had enough, you better let him go."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I get it. You're making fun of me for not _mercilessly pummeling _a helpless man!"

"Yes, I am!" Raph pointed at Leo's plastron. "You showed _weakness_! Those guys only understand one language…"

"Chinese?" Mikey guessed, looking up from his comic.

Raph jumped up into the air and landed in front of Mikey.

"No! _Fists_!"

"…What about feet?"

Mikey grinned as he lifted his foot into the air. Raph groaned.

"They understand _feet_…"

"That would make them bilingual," Donnie pointed out.

I raised my brow. "I don't even know what that means…"

Raph gave a shout of frustration. "_The point is_, we can't go soft on 'em!"

"To show mercy is not soft," we heard Sensei say, and we turned to look at him. "It is a sign of true strength."

"But, Sensei, they're _criminals_!" Raph stressed. "This is war!"

"A daimyo of the sixteenth century once said, "In times of peace, never forget the possibility of war. In times of war, never forget compassion.""

Raph glanced at the ground, and muttered. "I'm guessing that guy lost a lot of wars…"

Sensei narrowed his eyes. Then he took his cane and swung it down, aiming for Raph's head. Raph gasped. But the stick stopped within a centimeter of his face.

"You see?" Sensei asked. "Mercy."

He swung his cane again, this time smacking Raph's arm.

"Ow!" Raph sighed as he rubbed his arm. "Okay, look… Compassion is great, but the Purple Dragons are not gonna leave Murakami alone."

"So, we'll track down the Dragons and make sure they got the message," said Leo. "And if they didn't, we'll send them one," he punched a fist into his palm. "Special delivery!"

I snorted with laughter as Raph stared, eyebrows raised.

"Was that suppose to sound tough, or… stupid?"

"How're gonna track someone down when we can't talk to anybody?"

"What about April?" I asked.

At once the guys looked at each other, grins on their faces.

* * *

"April said this was the place," said Leo.

I kneeled down, looking closely at the old tattoo shop. _Probably in there getting some more ink._

"Cool…! Can we get tattoos?" Mike asked. "I wanna get one of my face _on my face._ It'll be like I'm wearing a mask, and the mask is _me_!"

I giggled as struck a victorious pose, a boyish grin on his face. The other three stared at him, not saying anything.

"I just blew your minds, right?" he said, smirking.

"I'll admit it," I shrugged. "I wouldn't mind getting a tattoo one day."

"You know they use needles for that," said Donnie.

"Oh! Really?" I said sarcastically. "I had _no idea_!"

"Can it, dorks!" Raph snapped. "There he is!"

I looked down to see Goatee walking out of the shop. He smirked as he turned onto the sidewalk, walking with a kind of swagger only a gangster like him could have.

"Let's go," Leo whispered.

With that we proceeded to running across the rooftops, following the Dragon's every move. After a few minutes he appeared to have ended up at an abandoned building. A small garage-looking door opened, and he walked inside.

"What's the plan now?" I whispered.

"I say we go in and start busting heads," Raph said, withdrawing his sais.

"Leo?" I asked.

Leo nodded. "Let's bust some heads."

I grinned. "Alright then."

I pulled out my kama's as the others drew out their own weapons. Leo leaped forward, and so did we.

_Crash!_

We smashed through the old window and shot into the building. We all rolled out onto the floor and came to a defensive stance.

"Freeze, dirtbags!" Leo shouted.

Then two figures stepped out from behind Goatee, and I gasped. It was Bradford! And his afro buddy!

"Wuh-oh…" Leo muttered.

"I think we can find them ourselves," the afro dude said to Goatee.

"Oh, man, this is awkward," said Mikey. "It Chris Bradford, my _ex-friend. _And… that other guy."

"The name, is Xever," the afro dude said. "So you don't forget, I'll write it on your shells… with _these_!"

And he withdrew from his pocket two small, but dangerous looking butterfly knives.

I glared as I gripped my kamas. _Nobody threatens my brothers!_

All three of the Purple Dragons suddenly charged. Me and the guys ran forward, arms at our sides. I slide down between Goatee and Mustache, holding the wooden ends of my kamas out. They slammed into the dude's ankles, and they both got knocked to the ground. I quickly stood up and held my kamas out.

From the corner of my eye I can see Donnie fighting Bradford alone. Instantly, I turned and ran over to help him. Donnie spun his staff on his back, and then grabbed it. He swung down at Bradford, but the older ninja just jumped out of the way. Donnie meant to take another swing at him, but Bradford dodged, and then raised his elbow and knocked Donnie to the ground.

"Hey!"

Bradford whipped his head around just as I jumped at him. I hit his jaw with the end of my kama, and he yelled. I landed on the other side of him, sliding to a stop. He gripped his jaw as he glared at me, and I glared back. We charged at each other at the same time, him raising his fists as I raised my kamas. He swung his right fist as me, but I jumped out of the way. I swung my kamas up at him, aiming for his face and torso. But he blocked all of my hits. I swung my left kama forward to hit him, but he grabbed my wrist. A second later he threw me out, and I fell over the railing.

I managed to grab onto the railing to keep from falling. I glanced down below to make sure nothing was in my way, and I let go of the railing. I landed on the lower level on my feet. I barley had enough time to steady myself before I heard running footsteps from behind me.

I turned around and lifted my kama in time to stop and oncoming butterfly knife from impaling me. I looked up, and I saw Xever's smirking face in front of me.

"Why, hello pretty girl," he growled. "Long time no see."

I grunted as I pushed him back. He slide back, that smirk still on his face as he held his knives out. I held up my kamas, ready to fight him.

Suddenly, there came several loud crashing sounds. I looked up, and to my horror I saw Foot soldier bursting through the walls.

"Ninjas, fall back!" Leo yelled.

"We're giving up? _Again_?" Raph yelled. "Are you kidding me?"

"Yes!" Leo snapped. "It's all part of my hilarious 'let's all live' routine!"

I bent my head as I dodged a couple of flying shurikens. I sheathed my kamas and followed my brothers as they jumped out of the window we had broken before. I was behind enough to hear Xever yell at us.

"Hey! Stay and fight you cold-blooded cowards!"

* * *

The lair was oddly quiet when we got home. I was sitting on the couch with my legs crossed next to Mikey, who was laying on his stomach, tracing circles into the ground with his finger. Leo sat on the ledge of the pit while Donnie sat on the cushions, looking up at the ceiling. Both of them looked as miserable as me and Mikey did.

"Man, could that fight have been anymore _embarrassing_?" Raph snapped, punching the dummy at the last word.

"Sure," Mikey looked up. "We could've been hit in the face with pies."

Raph growled at his younger brother, and I sighed.

"It's called fighting smart, Raph," Leo sighed, standing up. "The Purple Dragons have Bradford _and _Xever on their side now! Last time we barley beat those guys!"

"He's got a point, Raph," I said, looking up at said turtle. "Last time we were at least a _little _prepared for them. But we didn't even know they were gonna be in that building tonight. We wouldn't have stood a chance if we had stayed."

"Yeah, because they're willing to fight to the finish!" Raph stomped over to Leo. "The only way to beat them is to be just as ruthless as they are!"

"Raphael…" Sensei's voice sounded loudly as he entered the room. "This _Xever _can cross lines that you won't. This may make him dangerous, but it does not make him strong."

"But Xever wins fights!" said Raph. "Isn't that what matters? And he never shows anyone _mercy_!"

Raph folded his arms, and Leo slumped, looking depressed. I sighed. _Great, now what?_ It was obvious that this night wasn't gonna get any better. What could I do? How could I make my bros feel better. And then it hit me.

"Nia, what're you doing?"

I ignored Mikey as I ran to the other side of the pit where my white hoodie lay.

"Going somewhere, Lavinia?" Sensei asked.

"Just going for a walk," I said quickly as I zipped up my hoodie. "Need to clear my head. I'll be back in 20 minutes."

"Where are you going?" Mikey asked again, sounding despite to know the answer.

But I just smiled at him as I put my hoodie over my head, and I ran through the coin eaters.

* * *

_Man, I hope he's still opened, _I thought hopefully. I was currently out in the street, on my way to Murakami's. I was hoping that he was still open so that I could order a few Pizza Gyoza's for the guys. Hopefully, that would cheer them up.

I finally reached the noodle shop. The sigh said, "Open."

"Yes!" I said, fist pumping.

I pushed the door opened, and slowly went through. The second I walked in, however, I froze. The shop was a complete mess. Broken bowls and plates scattered the floor, and there was a puddle of spilled soup on the counter.

Suddenly, from the back, I heard loud shuffling. My eyes narrowed. I slowly leaned down and withdrew my tessen from the holster on my calf. I quietly started to walk around the counter and towards the back. The sounds got louder and louder, and I opened my tessen. Then the sound of an old man's yell issued from behind the curtain. _Murakami!_

Without hesitating I lunged forward, somersaulting through the curtain and rolling back up into a stance. The Purple Dragons where standing there, holding Murakami, who appeared to be tied up and gagged. I instantly I reared my hand back and threw it forward. It went for the bulky one's face. He ducked, but he was distracted enough for me to run up to him. I jumped up and snap-kicked him in the face. He stumbled back several feet before falling on the ground. I ran forward and snatched my tessen off the ground. The other two both ran at me, fists raised. At the last second I jumped up, and the two idiots ended up smacking into each other.

I jumped down and ran over to Murakami. I raised my hand and took the gag off of his mouth.

"Don't worry, Murakami-san. I'll have you-"

"It's a trap!"

Before I could register what he had said I felt someone grab my wrist and pull it back. I winced and whipped my head around. It was Xever.

"You're early, pretty," he commented. "No matter."

I growled and used my other arm to elbow him in the gut. He grunted and let go of my arm. The second I was free I spun around and kicked him in the chest. He slid back, but stayed up. I flung my tessen at him, but he dodged it, and the weapon got embedded into the wall.

"Drop your weapon," I heard Bradford demanded. "Or the old man gets it."

I whipped my head around. Bradford was standing there, manhandling Murakami by his collar. He glared at me, and I glared back. We continued to stare at each other for a few moments. After a moment, I sighed.

"Fine…"

I unzipped my hoddie, revealing my strap that held my kamas. I reached behind me and undid the strap, and set that on the ground as well.

"Good news, Bradford," Xever grabbed my arm. "It seems we have another reason for the turtles to stick around."

* * *

Raph's P.O.V.

Nia's been gone for a while now. She probably should've been back by now, but I wasn't too worried. She's a freakin' kunoichi, for crying out loud! Why should I be worried? Leo didn't seem to be feeling the same way, though.

"It's been over 20 minutes," Leo said. "Nia should be back by now."

"Relax, Leo," I told him, not looking up from my comic. "She's a big girl, she can take care of herself. She probably just ran into Vanessa or Angus or something."

Leo shook his head. "But, she would've called if that happened. I don't like this…"

I groaned as I set my comic on the couch.

"Look, don't get your kneepads in a twist. I'll just call her, 'kay?"

Leo sighed, and nodded. I smirked as I pulled out my T-Phone and looked through my contacts. A picture of Nia winking at the camera came up, and I clicked on it. I held the phone to my ear, and waited…

"_Heyah, this Nia. Leave a message and I'll get back to yah."_

I lowered the phone and hung up. I could feel my smirk falling, and I looked up at Leo.

"Well?"

"She didn't answer."

Leo stared at me, eyes widening. Then he looked over at Mikey, who was slouching in the beanbag chair.

"Mikey, can you call her?"

"Already on it."

We turned to him as he put his phone to his ear. A second later his face fell.

"Nothing!"

"Alright, that's it!"

Leo then took out his own phone and started dialing Nia's number.

"Guys!" Donnie came running in from his lab. "April just called. She says we need to get to Murakami's now! It's urgent!"

Leo let out a frustrated groan and he shoved his phone into his belt.

"She's still not answering!"

"Who?" Donnie asked.

"Nia," said Mikey. "She hasn't gotten back get."

Donnie rubbed his chin for a moment. "…Did she ever say where she was going?"

We all shook our heads. I couldn't help but start to feel worried. Why wouldn't Nia answer her phone?

"Alright, here's the plan," Leo said. "We'll meet April at Murakami's, find out what's wrong, and then we'll look for Nia. Okay?"

The other two agreed, and I nodded.

"Let's go!"

_Why wouldn't she answer her phone...?_

* * *

Within no time we arrived at the noodle shop. April was there, pacing by the entrance. We all jumped off the roof and ran towards her.

"April, what's wrong?" Leo asked.

"It's Murakami!"

April pushed the door open. We walked in, and we saw the place was in a completely mess.

"Someone took him," said April. "And left this…"

She gestured to the wall, where there was a note pinned to the wall by a butterfly knife.

"Sweet! Free knife!" Mikey said happily.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "The _note_, dummy!"

Mikey faltered, and I folded my arms. Donnie took the not down and read it aloud.

"_No more running. If you want the old man and the girl meet us out on the roof of the fortune cookie factory._"

I snapped my head up. _What?_

"Let me see that!"

I snatched the note from Donnie's hands and read it over. _If you want the old man and the girl… _What did that mean?

"And, guys…" April said quietly. "That's not all they left…"

We all looked over as April pointed to the opposite wall. I looked over and saw something black embedded in the wall.

It was Nia's tessen.

Instantly I ran over to the wall, and the others followed. I reached up and yanked the iron fan out of the wall. There was no mistaking it.

"They got Nia…?" Mikey asked fearfully.

I growled furiously as I shoved the tessen into my belt, and I ripped up the note.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I turned to the others. "Let's bust in there and save Nia and Murakami!"

"Not so fast!" Leo told me. "Think, Raphael."

"There's two words that don't usually go together," Donnie said, a smirk on his face.

"This is obviously a trap," Leo continued.

I clenched my fists. "Well, what choice do we have? I mean, they got _Nia_ for crying out loud!"

"You don't think I know that?" Leo snapped, then he took a deep breath. "…Maybe we do need to think more like Xever."

"But Master Splinter said-" Donnie started.

"I know! But Xever crossed the line dragging Murakami into this. And he crossed it even more by taking Nia. He's gotta learn that we can cross the line, too," Leo folded his arms. "No more Mr. Nice Turtle."

"Yes!" I punched my fist into my hand. "I never liked Mr. Nice Turtle!"

* * *

Nia's P.O.V.

_Geez, this is embarrassing, _I thought bitterly.

I looked over at Xever, who was standing on top of one of the building beams; the same one that Murakami was hanging by a rope from. I, on the other hand, was in a slightly safer spot and sitting on the roof of the building. But, I still had my wrists tied behind my back, so it wasn't exactly much better.

Suddenly, on the other side of the roof, I saw several, green figures climbing up. It was the guys! But what was strange was that they appeared to be carrying a large trash can with them. What was stranger was that it was chained up and noises were coming from it.

"Guys!"

"Nia!" Mikey cried.

Xever stepped down from the beam and walked along the roof, a smirk on his face.

"We're here, Xever!" Leo stepped up. "Now let our sister and the noodle-man go!"

"Sorry," said Xever. "But there's been a change of plans."

Suddenly, many Foot soldiers jumped up out of nowhere and landed near the turtles, all wielding different kinds of ninja weapons.

"Actually, there's been another change of plans," Leo said, smirking as well.

I raised my brow. Before I could even think of asking, Donnie and Mikey lifted the large can up, and to my surprise, it revealed Bradford. Not only that, he was tied up and had tape across his mouth.

"I love it when a change of plans comes together," said Donnie.

"You let Nia and our friend go," said Leo. "And we'll let your friend go."

I stared in surprise. This wasn't like the guys. Since when did they start kidnapping people? Then, Xever laughed.

"He's not my friend!"

The boy's grins instantly faded. It was clear that they didn't expect that. Xever then walked back to the wooden beam, and took out one of his butterfly knives. He then kneeled down and began to cut the rope Murakami was hanging off of.

"Guys…!" I called warningly.

Raph then grabbed Bradford and leaned him threatening over the ledge.

"Uh…W-we're not kidding!" Leo said, but he sounded less confident this time. "Okay? Stop, or we'll toss him!"

Xever shrugged. "Go ahead! He'll save me the trouble," he stood up. "In fact…"

He suddenly jumped back onto the roof, landing next to me. He bent over and grabbed the back of my head, lifting the knife up to my chin.

"No!" I heard Donnie yell.

Taking my eyes off the knife I looked up at Leo, and there was fear in his eyes. He gulped and glanced back at his younger brother.

"Uh, Raph…?"

Raph turned his head to glare at Bradford. For a moment it looked like he was going to toss him. But then…

"Aw, crud…"

Grudgingly, Raph threw Bradford back onto the roof. Xever stood up, chuckling.

"That's what I thought," he pointed at the guys. "Attack!"

The Foot soldiers then charged at the boys. The turtles withdrew their weapons, and charged back.

"Damn it!" I muttered. "Now what?"

As I watched the boys all fight off the Foot soldiers I tried to think of a way to get free. Suddenly, Raph kicked a few Foot out of the way and landed in front of me.

"Need a hand?" he asked, smirking.

I groaned. "I'm never gonna hear the end of this, am I?"

"Probably not."

Raph quickly kneeled down behind me and used his sai to cut through the binds. _Snap!_ The ropes fell and I rubbed my wrists.

"Thanks."

"No prob," Raph reached behind him and took something out of his belt. "I'm guessing you need this."

It was my tessen. I quickly took it from Raph's hand and opened it. It was still in perfect condition.

"Thanks, dude," I said, and we bumped fists.

At once I stood up, and I ran into the battle. Two Foot ninjas came running at me. They both swung their swords down at me, but I jumped up, and somersaulted over them. I landed behind them, and kicked the one on the left in the back. He went down, but his buddy turned and charged at me. He swung his sword left and right, and I dodged both blows. He swung his blade down at me, and I blocked it with my fan. I raised my fist and punched his arm, and I kicked him back, making him knock over another one.

I backed up a little bit, and I ended up in a huddle with the others. There were Foot soldiers surrounding us from all sides. I looked up, and I saw that Bradford had managed to get free, and was standing in front of us.

"Alright," he said. "Let's settle the score, _pond scum_!"

"We're the ones who _didn't _wanna throw yah off the roof!" Donnie said irritably.

Bradford lunged forward, and we scattered. I lunged out at a Foot ninja and used the closed end of my tessen on his head. He stumbled, and I swept my leg under him, causing him to fall. Staying low, I flung my tessen outward at the small group of ninjas that were coming my way. They all ducked, but I ran up to them and kicked them each in the face. They all fell to the ground, and I reached up to grab my tessen as it came back to me.

"Raph!" I heard Leo shout.

I whipped my head around. Raph was lying on the ground, looking unconscious. I looked up in time to see both Xever and Bradford hit Leo so hard that he flew back and slammed into the base of the water tower, where both Donnie and Mikey lay, both looking unconscious.

I yelled as I ran towards Bradford, holding my tessen at the ready. I swung it up at his face, and he moved out of the way. I aimed a kick at his side, but he grabbed my leg. Xever came up and raised his knee up, and it connected with my face. Stars appeared in front of me, and Bradford then threw me back, and I landed in the pile on top of Mikey and Donnie.

I flopped off of the boys and onto the surface of the roof. My face was thumb and my nose felt sore. I lifted a hand to my nose, and I lifted it to see a small drop of blood on it. I heard a deep chuckle, and I looked up to see Xever and Bradford standing in front of us.

"See, Bradford? That is how you catch turtles. And next…" Xever took out his knife. "I'll show you how to fillet them."

I gulped. _God, send us a miracle…_

"You'd never have caught them without me, and you know it!" Bradford argued.

Xever laughed. "Oh, yes! What would we have done without your brave leadership from inside the trash can?"

As the two continued arguing, there was a loud _shling_, and I looked up. Leo's katana had been thrown and embedded itself into the ground. Leo and I both looked up, me craning my next to see. Goatee, the Purple Dragon's leader, was standing there, arms crossed. I didn't have to ask to know that he had given us the sword. From the corner of my eye, I saw Leo grin a little.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Xever said when he and Bradford were finally done arguing. "It's time to cut these turtles into little pieces. Maybe I'll even start with their little friend…"

Suddenly, Leo stood up, katana in his hand.

"I don't think so!"

He then jumped up, and sliced the supporter beams of the water tower. The tower suddenly collapsed, smashed, and the water came out in a large wave. It washed away all of the ninjas, along with Xever and Bradford.

Mikey stood up, and extracted his kusarigama chain. He charged forward and jumped over to the wooden beam Murakami had been tied to. Me and the other three ran forward and looked over the edge.

"I got him!" Mikey yelled, holding the hold man with one arm.

"Oh!" I put a hand over my heart. "Thank God!"

"Nice save, Mikey!" said Leo.

"Don't look down, Murakami-san!" Mikey told the old man. "Or, um… _listen _down."

As we all began to pull on the chain to pull Mikey up, I noticed Leo looking over at something. I turned my head and saw Goatee staring at us from the opposite side of the roof. He turned and bolted. I could see Leo smiling.

* * *

"Accept this token of my gratitude," Mr. Murakami held up a large package. "Pizza Gyoza!"

"Sweet!" I exclaimed.

"Awesome!" Donnie took the package. "Thanks, Murakami-san!"

"Your welcome… Turtle-san…"

We all bowed our heads, then we realized what he had said.

"Wait, how did you…?" Donnie trailed off.

"I do have other senses," Murakami explained. "Touch, smell…"

We all looked at each other. Mikey lifted his arm to sniff himself, and winced before lowering it quickly.

"I have a feeling," the old man seemed to guesture to me. "That you are not turtle, yes?"

I nodded. "Yes," I paused. "You're not… scared of my bros?" I asked unsurely.

"You saved my life!" Murakami smiled. "Who am I to complain?"

Mikey quickly stepped forward towards Murakami. A second later he pounced and gave him a hug. I giggled as Murakami smiled.

* * *

Ahh… nothing like eating hot Pizza Gyoza's in the lair to end the night right.

"Just try one!" Donnie urged April. "Sometimes things that don't seem like they go together actually make a great couple- I mean, food!"

I snorted, nearly choking on my dumpling.

"Fine…" April sighed.

Donnie fed her the dumpling, and she chewed it for a moment. Then she stared.

"Wow! These _are _amazing!"

Donnie beamed, looking proud of himself. Suddenly, April snatched his plate and started eating his dumplings. Donnie gapped at her. I giggled.

"Here, bud."

I picked up about three of my own dumplings and handed them to him. He grinned, and thanked me as he took them.

"You all showed your strength today," Sensei said proudly.

Raph shrugged. "Yeah, but we almost got beaten."

"Your strength was _mercy_," Sensei said seriously. "_That_ is why the Purple Dragon helped you."

Splinter sipped on his tea, and Raph glanced at the ground, thinking. Leo then leaned in towards him, a smirk on his face.

"Well, say it," he said smugly.

"Okay, okay… you were right."

I gasped. "Did I just hear Raph admit he was wrong? My Lord…!"

Raph frowned at me. I giggled as Leo put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"See, that wasn't so-"

"Your wimpiness might not be totally useless."

I stared at Raph smirked at Leo. Leo gapped, but a second later he smirked, too.

"Oh! I'll show _you _who's wimpy! _No mercy_!"

And suddenly, Leo pounced onto Raph, wrestling him to the ground. As the boys started to wrestle I rolled my eyes, and continued eating my delicious dumplings.


	14. The Gauntlet

Ch. 9  
The Gauntlet

"Dude, this is awesome!"

"I know!" Donnie grinned. "I can't wait to see the look on their faces!"

I grinned as well. I looked down at Donnie's hands, which were filled with what looked like eggs. But I knew that they were much more.

Me and Donnie walked into the dojo, and saw Leo and Raph were sparring.

"Sup, boys!" I sang, and they turned their heads.

"Check it out, guys!" said Donnie. "We are about to take our ninjutsu to a whole new level!"

"Cool," said Leo.

Suddenly he crouched down and swept his leg out, knocking Raph to the ground. Raph grunted as fell down, and I chuckled.

"Any who," I turned to Donnie. "Donnie, care to show these two what you made?"

Donnie beamed, and nodded. The then took one of the eggs and held it up.

"Last night, I figured out how to make… _ninja smoke bombs_!"

Donnie threw the egg on the ground, and with a loud _bam_, he disappeared in a huge explosion of purple smoke. There was another explosion from behind Leo and Raph, and the purple smoke cleared to reveal Donnie standing behind them.

"Whoa…" Leo breathed as Raph stood up, looking amazed.

"I know!" I squealed. "It's totally _wicked!_ I wanna try!"

I ran up to Donnie, who smiled as he held his hand out. I took two smoke bombs in my hands, and giggled. I threw one down, and purple smoke appeared. I threw my other one, and I reappeared directly behind Raph. At once I jumped and landed on his shell, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Boo!"

Raph turned his head to look at me, and he laughed as he held onto me so he was holding me piggyback style. I placed my chin on his shoulder as I looked over at Donnie.

"Now," he began. "To make 'em… I carefully drilled two holes in an eggshell without cracking it, slowly blew out the contains, waited for the inside to dry, then pour in flash power, and sealed both holes with wax…"

"Blah blah, science, blah! Do it again!" Raph urged.

"Yeah!" I insisted.

"What I'm trying to tell you guys is they take a long time to make," Donnie said seriously. "So, use 'em sparingly."

"I'm making breakfast!" Mikey called from the kitchen. "Who wants omelets?"

"I do!" I yelled.

Donnie stared at his bomb. "Omelets…?" he gasped. "Mikey, don't-!"

_Bam!_ In a huge explosion of purple smoke, Mikey appeared in the dojo. His face was covered with black smudges, and he was coughing.

"Ugh… I think that was a rotten egg," he groaned, looking down at the bowl of what was obviously more smoke bombs.

I wrapped my arms around Raph's neck more as I giggled into his shoulder. Leo could barley contain himself, and he leaned onto Raph shoulder as he laughed, too.

"Those aren't eggs, Mikey," said Donnie. "They're ninja smoke bombs!"

Mikey froze, staring at Donnie in pure shock and amazement.

"_Shut up…!_"

The then took one of the bombs in the bowl and threw in on the ground. _Bam… bam!_ He reappeared on top of a branch of the tree.

"This…!"

_Bam… bam! _He reappeared next to the trunk.

"Is the best day…!"

_Bam… bam! _He reappeared above us, looking as though he were defying gravity.

"_Of my life!_"

_Bam… bam! _It was when he reappeared on the ground in front of us that Donnie spoke up.

"Mikey, stop!"

Mikey grinned mischievously… and he dropped the bomb in his hand._ Bam!_ Donnie face palmed. Mikey then jumped up from behind his genius brother, and hugged him from behind.

"I love you, man!" Mikey kissed Donnie's cheek. "Seriously!"

Donnie turned his head, glaring at his little brother. I giggled as I finally let go of Raph, and I slid onto the floor.

At that moment, I heard running footsteps.

"Guys!"

It was April. At once, we all ran into the living room. April was sprinting towards us, looking terrified.

"Guys!" she cried, falling onto the couch. "You'll never believe what happened to me!"

"Alright, April, calm down," Donnie said gently, putting a hand on her knee. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling in front of her.

She looked up at us. "I am being hunted… by a _giant pigeon_!"

I stared at her. _What?_ From behind me I heard Raph start to laugh. I whipped my head around and glared at him, so did the others. Raph stopped laughing.

"I can't be the only one that finds that funny!" he said.

"It's not funny, Raph!" Donnie stood up. "There's a creature out there trying to hurt my April!"

I whipped my head around to stare at Donnie, eyes wide. April looked at him too, eyebrows raised. Donnie blushed, looking embarrassed.

"_Our _April…" Donnie corrected. "April…"

"This is serious," Mikey lifted up a bomb. "I better get Splinter."

"We don't really need-" Leo began.

Mikey dropped it, and _bam_! When the smoke cleared, Sensei was standing there instead of Mikey.

"Michelangelo said you wanted to see me?" Sensei asked.

I rolled my eyes as I stood up next to April.

"Alright April, take a deep breath," I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Start from the beginning."

* * *

"…His talons were razor sharp!" April said as she continued to explain her encounter with the mutant pigeon. "He would've torn me to pieces! If he hadn't slammed into the glass…"

Raph, who had reading a comic, burst into laughter again. He quickly calmed down, and frowned.

"Really? Just me?"

Sensei then jabbed the end of his staff into Raph's head.

"Raphael! Clearly, April is upset."

"Yeah, dude! That's so insensitive!" Mikey leaned over towards April. "Do you need a tissue?"

"I think I'm okay-"

"I'll get you a tissue."

Mikey threw down the bomb, and disappeared. A second later there was another _bam, _he reappeared.

"We don't have any tissues. Can I make you some soup?"

"Stop it!" Donnie snapped.

He reached up and snatched the smoke bomb out of Mikey's hand.

"Don't worry, April," said Donnie. "We won't let anything happen to yah."

"Donnie's right," said Leo. "We're gonna set a trap for this Pigeon-Man, and make sure he never bothers you again."

I stood up. "Okay, first thing's first; how are we gonna set the trap exactly."

Donnie shrugged. "Well, I know what we can use as bait."

"Bread crumbs!" Mikey pipes up.

Donnie and Leo stared at him, looking as though he had suggested something stupid. Mikey frowned.

"Pigeons eat bread crumbs…"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "I meant April."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"You're gonna let 'im eat April?!" Mikey shouted, standing protectively in front of said redhead. "I thought you liked her!"

"Yeah!" said April.

"Don't sweat it! We got your back," said Donnie.

I sighed. "Well… Donnie's traps haven't failed us yet," I put a hand on April's shoulder. "Looks like you're playing bait tonight, hon."

"Alright, Mighty Mutants," Leo said. "Let's do this!"

"'Mighty Mutants'?" Raph asked. "What? 'Dancing Dorks' was already taken?"

"And, last I checked," I folded my arms. "I'm not a mutant. Remember?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "I'm working on it, alright?"

I giggled. We all turned and sprinted for the exit.

"Wait!"

We all turned to look at Sensei.

"We do not yet know what you are facing. Perhaps you should study your enemy before confronting him."

"With all due respect, Sensei…" Leo shrugged. "It's a pigeon."

"What you know is dangerous to your enemy," Sensei said seriously, poking Leo's chest with his staff. "What you _think _you know is dangerous to _you. _I fear you are all becoming over confident."

"Even me?" I asked, sounding worried.

Sensei nodded. "Yes, even you, Lavinia."

"Aw…"

"Sensei," Leo started. "In the past few months, we've taken down giant spiders, plant creatures, alien robots, and an army of ninjas!"

Donnie and Mikey gave each other a high-three. I smiled as I leaned an elbow on Raph's should, and he winked, giving a thumbs up.

"Maybe we're not over confident," Leo smiled. "Maybe we're just that good."

And with that, we turned and left. Though, I had a feeling Sensei was still not convinced.

* * *

We were all currently in the same alley the mutant pigeon had attacked April earlier today. Raph was hiding in the manhole, Leo and Donnie had taken the dumpster, and me and Mikey were hiding up on the fire escape. April was walking around the alley, trying to be good bait.

"Here I am!" April said loudly. "Walkin' around in the big city! All alone! Oh, I sure hope no crazy Pigeon-Man sneaks up on me! That would be the _last_ thing I'd want!"

"What are you doin'?" Donnie hissed, poking his head out from behind dumpster.

"You wanted me to be bait!" April snapped. "I'm bait!"

"That's not how bait talks!"

"How do _you_ know how bait talks!"

"I know bait doesn't _talk back_!"

I gasped. _Holy crap!_

"_Oooh…!_" me and the other three echoed in unison, poking our heads out from our hiding spots.

"Oh no, you didn't!" Mike said, waving his finger.

"_Ooh!_ Shots fired, ladies and gentlemen!" I said, smirking at Donnie.

We all instantly shot back into our hiding spots. I watched as April frowned at Donnie, who laughed nervously.

"Just… act natural," he said, and he retreated to his spot.

April sighed. "Here I am… acting natural. Just _totally defenseless _against any- I don't know- hideous, mutant pigeon guy who might happen upon me?"

I snorted. _This'll take a while._ April started walking in the alley again, when I heard it. A loud squawk.

I lifted my head up to see a giant, ugly, mutant pigeon diving down. April screamed. Just when the creature was about to grab her, Donnie jumped out and shot the thing with his stun-gun. The creature twitched as it landed on the ground.

"Now!" Leo yelled.

Me and the others leaped from our hiding spots and jumped onto the pigeon, pinning his to the ground.

"Okay!" the mutant cried. "Okay, uncle! Geez Louise!"

"You okay, April?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," April turned to Donnie. "And you said I wasn't good bait."

April smirked at him, and Donnie grinned back at her.

"Okay," said Leo. "Start talking, Pigeon-Man."

"I have a name!"

"Yeah, we just don't care what it is," Raph said.

"That's a bit harsh," I told him.

"It's _Pete_!" the pigeon spat.

Leo folded his arms. "Why were you trying to hurt April, _Pete_?"

"I didn't wanna hurt her!" said Pete. "I was just bringing her a message! From her _father_!"

April gasped. "Let him up!"

At once we all let go of Pete and stood up. The pigeon stood up shakily.

"We were both 'guests' of the Kraang," he explained. "They poured some ooze on me and turned me into _this_!"

"Oh, that must've been horrible!" said April. "Being turned into a… _pigeon_!"

"Actually, I started out as a pigeon."

"Lovely," I stated.

"Told yah the bread crumbs would've worked," said Mikey.

Suddenly, Pete exclaimed with delight and grabbed Mikey, lifting him up.

"You got bread crumbs?!"

I giggled as Pete shook Mikey, as though hoping bread crumbs would just fall off of him. April cleared her throat.

"My father…?"

"Oh! Right!"

Pete suddenly dropped Mikey("Ow!"). He reached behind him and took out a phone that could only be Mr. O'Neil's. April took it, and looked at the video presented.

"_Something terrible is about to happen! I don't know what, but it's extremely important that you get out of the city as soon as you can. Save yourself! And remember… I love you…"_

"I love you, too, daddy…" April whimpered, clutching the phone to her chest.

"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Leo asked Pete.

"I'm just the messenger."

"We've got to get you out of the city," Donnie told April.

"I'm not going anywhere without my dad!"

"But you heard him," he said. "Something terrible is gonna happen."

"Then we better hurry."

April continued to stare at Donnie. Her mind was set.

Leo turned to face Pete.

"Can you tell us where the Kraang are holding him?" he asked.

"I can… But it's gonna cost you a lot 'a bread."

Leo raised his brow. "We're talking about _actual bread_, right?"

Pete nodded. "Yep! Sour dough!"

"Phew!" I sighed. "That could've ended horribly!"

"Done," said Leo.

"Let's roll!" Mikey exclaimed, and he threw a smoke bomb on the ground.

* * *

It had taken us a while, but Pete was able to lead us to the building where the Kraang where hiding. Donnie was currently standing on top of Mikey's shell, trying to open an entrance into the facility. After only a few minutes, he succeeded, and pushed away the metal lid.

"Piece 'a cake!" he said.

"Let's do this!" April said, a look of determination on her face.

She started forward, but Leo put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"We need you to wait here, April."

"Are you crazy? My dad's in there!"

"Along with who knows how many Kraang!" Leo told her. "This requires stealth and mobility! Leave it to the pros."

April shook her head. "I can't just do _nothing_!"

"You won't be doing nothing," Leo took the rope Raph was holding, and held it out to her. "We need you to lower this rope when we give you the signal."

April still didn't look too happy about this. But she just sighed and took the rope.

"Sorry, April," I said, patting her shoulder.

Me and the boys turned and went through the entrance and went inside, one at a time. Donnie went first, and rolled silently behind a pile of crates when he saw a Kraang-droid standing guard. Leo went next, and then me. Then Mikey tried to mimic us, but failed as he fell onto the floor loudly. The droid turned, and powered up its gun, pointing it at Mikey. At that moment, Raph jumped down onto the droid, stabbing it with his sais.

"Phew," I sighed.

Raph glared at Mikey, who chuckled nervously.

"C'mon," Leo whispered to us all.

He turned, and we all followed him. He looked around at bit before turning a corner. Donnie did the same, and I glanced around as I moved around the corner. I glanced over in time to see Raph suddenly slap Mikey's head for no reason. _Typical Raph…_

Leo suddenly stopped walking. He held his hand out, and we stopped, too.

"Shh…" he breathed.

He unsheathed his swords and jumped around the corner. There were loud crashing sounds, and I peeked my head around the corner. It appeared that Leo had taken down a Kraang-droid. He gestured to us, and we all somersaulted towards him. Leo then spotted a few Kraang-droids were walking down the hall, and he quietly told us to follow them.

The droids soon led us to a room. As soon as the door slid open, Leo grabbed both of the droids by their heads, and bashed them together. The droid inside turned, but Raph threw his sai at its head, and it went down.

Making sure that no other droids were inside, we all walked into the room. I looked around, examining the large console in the center of the room, noticing the blue lights streaming down from it.

There was the sound of loud squalling, and we turned to see the Kraang alien from inside of the droids had woken up. Leo reared his fist back, and punched the brainy thing.

"Eck…" I cringed. "Nasty."

"Donnie, hack into the system and see what you can find out about the Kraang's plot," said Leo. "Raph, Nia, you two are with me. Mikey, stay with Donnie."

"Why do I always get stuck with Mikey?" Donnie snapped.

"Hey…" Mikey whined.

"I don't want him! And I'm in charge!"

"Hey!"

"Well, then make Raph take Mikey."

"Over my dead body. Make Nia take him, she's the only one that will."

"Guys, stop it!" I said snappishly.

"You know, I'm startin' to think nobody wants to be with me!" Mikey straightened up. "Fine! I'll just go off on my own."

"Mikey…"

But he threw down a smoke bomb, and disappeared. There was a loud banging noise, and we turned to see a small, square door in the middle of the wall open. A huge puff of purple smoke was released, and Mikey's head emerged. He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Heheh… That's a closet…"

I face palmed.

"Have fun, you two," said Raph. "C'mon, Nia."

I gave Donnie a small salute, and followed the other two out of the room.

It didn't take long for us to find the hallway with all of the cells. Leo had a pretty good idea which one Mr. O'Neil was in. He somersaulted over to one, crouching next to it. Me and Raph followed soon after, both of us withdrawing our weapons as we stood in our positions to cover Leo from any Kraang that might show up.

"Mr. O'Neil?" Leo whispered. "Are you in here?"

I turned my head to look at the window of the cell door. There was a pause. Then a bald, red bearded man popped up, and I grinned.

"You're one of the turtles who rescued my daughter! Is she okay?"

"She's fine," said Leo. "She's right outside."

"You mean, she's still in the city?" Mr. O'Neil shook his head. "That girl is stubborn!"

"Yeah, we've noticed…" Leo muttered.

He removed the cover from the electrical lock. He took out two wires and began to mess with it.

Eventually, it got to the point where I was bored with waiting for Leo to pick the lock, and I could tell Raph was feeling the same thing.

"You sure you know what you're doing, bro?" I asked, fanning myself with my tessen.

"Yes, I'm sure," he said, not looking away from the lock.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Since it's taking Leo _forever_ to pick that lock…"

"I'm working on it!"

"…Maybe you could tell us what the heck's the deal with the Kraang," Raph finished, looking at Mr. O'Neil.

"They're aliens from another dimension," he explained. "When they came here, they brought the mutagen with them."

"Why?" Leo asked. "What's the point of turning people into monsters?"

"The mutagen doesn't work the way they thought it would. Apparently, the physical laws from their universe are different from ours."

"So, they're grabbing scientists to help them modify the ooze!"

"Wow! You figured it out!" Raph said sarcastically. "How's that lock comin'?"

"So, what do they want the ooze to _do_?" Leo asked.

"I wish I knew…"

"Well, whatever their reasons," I said. "They can't be up to any good."

"Guys!"

I turned. Donnie was there, sprinting towards us.

"They've planted a mutagen bomb downtown! They're gonna use it to disperse ooze over half the city!"

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, hi Mr. O'Neil," Donnie said calmly. "Your daughter's really nice."

I face palmed. "Way to keep your priorities straight, dude."

"Okay, we have to disarm that bomb," Leo said "If I can just get this stupid door open!"

"Have you tried this?"

I whipped my head around to see Mikey press a large button on the wall.

"NO!" me and the boys yelled.

Suddenly, a loud alarm went off, and pink lights began to flash.

"Mikey!" I exclaimed.

"And _that's _why no one wants to be with you!" Raph snapped.

"Got it!" Leo said.

The door finally slid open, allowing Mr. O'Neil to come out. But by then several Kraang-droids had shown up and were running for us.

"Let's move!" Leo ordered.

He and Donnie held Mr. O'Neil by the arms and ran off, me and the other two following closely behind. The Kraang didn't hesitate to fire at us. I managed to block a few lasers with my tessen, but that didn't stop me from having to maneuver everywhere to avoid being hit.

In no time we were right back where we started. Donnie and Leo made sure to keep Mr. O'Neil covered behind the crates. I quickly jumped behind another pile, and Raph followed me. Mikey tripped on his way over, but Raph quickly grabbed him and pulled him over. Mikey laughed, and Raph slapped him. I heard Leo start making loud pigeon noises, obviously trying to get April's attention.

"What you _doing_?" Raph snapped. "April, throw the rope!"

April poked her head out to look down. "Dad!"

"April!"

"Hurry, April!" I yelled. "We're getting surrounded here!"

A second later the brown rope finally fell down. I looked up to see several Kraang-droids approaching, aiming their weapons at us. Raph kicked a nearby barrel, and it knocked a couple of them over. I looked over my shoulder to see a droid right up on us. I stood up and hit its face with my tessen, and kneed it in the torso. The droid dropped its gun and fell to the ground.

"Guys, we gotta go now!" I yelled.

But then Mr. O'Neil lunged forward and grabbed the fallen gun.

"Mr. O'Neil, what're you doing?" Leo shouted.

He didn't reply. Mr. O'Neil stood up, aiming the gun forward. He fired it, and knocked down two Kraang-droids.

"Save my daughter," he told us. "Save the city."

"Daddy, no!" April cried.

Mr. O'Neil ran forward, firing at a few more droids. Leo and Donnie ducked as a few lasers just barley missed them.

"Go, go!" Leo ordered.

We all stood up and ran for the rope. But as Donnie grabbed it I turned to look at Mr. O'Neil.

"What about him?" I asked.

"We can't leave him here!" Donnie said incredulously.

"We don't have choice!" Leo said firmly.

He was right. There was nothing we could do for Mr. O'Neil now. As quick as we could, we all climbed up the rope and out of the entrance. I came out just after Raph, and as soon as I was out I looked down the hole. Mr. O'Neil had been tackled by a Kraang-droid.

"No!" April cried.

The droids took Mr. O'Neil and led him away, no doubt taking him back to his cell.

April stumbled back. Her hands were over her mouth, and a small whimper escaped her.

"April…?" I asked unsurely.

Suddenly, April threw herself onto Donnie, her arms going around him. He held her closely, a sad look on his face. A second later he pulled back so he could look at her face.

"We'll get him back, April," he breathed. "…_I promise_."

She looked up at him sadly, tears threatening to fall. But I could tell from the look in her eyes that she believed him, and she was comforted by his words.

"We gotta go," said Leo.

At once we all ran, sprinting off of the roof.

* * *

According to Donnie, the explosion was going to happen at the 'Wolf Hotel'. We immediately headed that way, along with our bow and arrows. Each of the Hamato clan embroidered arrows had little bombs attached to them, so that when they hit their targets, they would explode.

Me and the boys were positioned at different points around the building. I was up on the large 'W' of the hotel name. I carefully aimed my arrow at a Kraang-droid, and fired. It hit the droid's head, and it exploded. I stood up and ran across the letters of the sign, firing at two more droids, and they each exploded.

I jumped down and landed on the roof, where the large mutagen bomb sat, hidden behind the hotel sign. I looked up in time to see two halves of a droid and the alien occupant fall down from on top of the bomb, and Leo standing up there, katanas in his hands. The droid pieces fell, and the brain-like thing slammed into the surface, squalling loudly. I let out a small yelp and moved away as the thing ran pass me. It then sprinted forward, crawling between Raph's legs and scrambling out of sight. Raph, who had looked down between his legs to watch the creature, stood straight up, sticking his tongue out as he let out a grunt of disgust.

"Man, those things are nasty," I said, grimacing.

"Okay, Donnie," said Leo. "It's up to you."

Donnie ran over to the control panel, and grabbed the cover. He took it off, and his eyes went wide.

"Uh-oh…"

"Please tell me that's a good 'uh-oh,'" I begged.

"It's a bad 'uh-oh.'"

"Bad uh-oh?" Leo repeated. "Donnie, you said you knew how to do this!"

"I didn't count on a design this complex, Leo!"

"They're _aliens_ from another _dimension_!" Leo yelled. "What did you expect? A big, round ball with a lit fuse that said, 'BOMB'?!"

"No! But, _this_ is-"

"Boy, I sure hope this argument goes on for another four minutes and fifteen seconds!" Raph snapped, pushing Leo aside and slapping Donnie's head.

Donnie glared at his brother, rubbing his head. Then he kneeled down at the control panel. He move his head this way and that, as though trying to find something inside the mess of wires.

"Donnie? You cool?" I asked gently.

"Yeah," he said, a little shakily. "Yeah, I'm cool."

He certainly didn't look too cool. He was sweating slightly and looking very nervous. He took a deep breath, and reached for the wires.

"Careful!" Leo said suddenly.

Donnie whipped his head around, glaring at Leo. He slowly turned his head back around, and went back to his work.

"Watch out for those wires!" Raph warned.

"You guys are _not _helping!"

"What if we just pushed this button?"

Mikey reached up, his finger inching towards a small, yellow button. But before he could do more Raph grabbed his hand and yanked it back.

"Don't you think you've pushed enough buttons tonight?" he snapped.

I rolled my eyes. Donnie tapped a finger to his chin, looking deep in thought. Leo was still being impatient, however.

"Donnie, you're gonna have to speed this up-"

"_I cannot work with all this pressure_!" Donnie yelled.

"Leo, pushing Donnie isn't gonna help us," I told him. "He needs to work in peace.

_Bash! _There was a loud, banging sound, and Leo turned his head.

"Um… that might be a problem."

I followed his gaze up to the sign, and gasped. It was Bradford and Xever!

"How do they keep finding us?!" I yelled irritably.

The boys instantly withdrew their weapons, getting into position.

"Nia, stay with Donnie so he can disarm the bomb," Leo ordered.

"Got it!"

The boys ran forward, and Bradford and Xever did the same. I took out my kamas and looked back at Donnie.

"You sure you got this?"

Donnie didn't answer, but wiped the sweat off of his forehead. I looked forward to see Leo block Xever's oncoming foot.

"You guys picked a _really_ bad time for this!" Leo snapped, and he pushed Xever back.

"Oh, sorry for the inconvenience," Xever said sarcastically. "When would you prefer to breath your last breath?"

Xever aimed a kick for Leo's head, but Leo blocked it with his blades.

"If that thing goes off, it'll wipe us _all _out!"

"I'd rather parish with honor, than live in shame!" said Bradford.

"Yeah? Well, we'd rather _live _with honor!" I snapped.

Bradford, who had raised his sword, growled and ran for me instead. I raised my kamas up in time to block the oncoming blow. I pushed him back and swung right kama, then my left. Bradford dodged both. I raised both my kamas up and brought them down. Bradford blocked with his sword, and pushed me back so I slid down to the ground. He was about to run at me again, but Raph jumped in, blocking his sword.

"Will yah hurry up and defuse the bomb?!" he shouted. "We're dealing with a couple of nut jobs, here!"

"Be quiet!" Donnie snapped.

I backed up and kneeled next to him. "Relax, bro. Focus."

He took a deep breath, and nodded. He reached back inside the control panel and began messing with the wires. I watched as he carefully took a yellow wire and cut it. He then grabbed a red wire and started twisting it. While he was busy I turned around, still kneeling on the ground. I watched as the others continued to fight Bradford and Xever. Leo and Mikey seemed to be keeping Bradford busy now, and Raph was fighting Xever by himself.

"Down to two wires," Donnie said, his voice shaking. "Which do I cut? Black, or green?"

"Go for the green!" Mikey shouted, right before receiving a punch from Bradford.

I turned my head to look at Donnie, who was holding the pliers over the black wire, looking as though he were about to cut it. The timer started beeping louder and quicker, indicating that we only had seconds left.

"Donnie," I said warningly.

Donnie gulped, looking nervous. Then he shrugged.

"Eh, why not?"

He moved his pliers down, and cut the green wire. The beeping stopped, and the little timer was stopped.

"Are we good?" I asked.

"Yes!" Donnie shouted, and he stood up. "Guys! Guys! _Mikey_… was _right _about something!"

"Hallelujah!" I shouted. "Now let's go them the others."

Me and Donnie fist-bumped, and charged.

"You handle Bradford, I'll take Xever!" I told him.

Donnie nodded, and we ran off. Raph and Xever were at the upper level of the bomb by now. I held my kamas tightly as I ran up towards Xever. Xever had just knocked Raph down when I swung my right kama at him. Xever turned, grabbing the handle of my kama. He pushed it down and kicked me back. I slid back, and he snorted. He ran towards me, standing on his hands as he made a few kicks towards me. I ducked and moved to avoid being hit. I stepped back, walking along the outer edge of the bomb. Xever made to aim another kick at me, but I jumped over him and landed several feet away from him. I glanced behind me as I saw Raph stand up, sais in his hands.

"Ready to bash some heads?" I asked slyly.

Raph spun his sais. "You read my mind."

At once we both charged. Raph went at him first, swinging his right and left sai at Xever's face. Xever dodged jumped back to avoid them. I ran forward and swung my left kama, and soon after spun around and did a snap kick. Xever ducked and did a few flips to avoid my blows, and started walking backward.

We continued to force him back until we were on the other side of the bomb, I could see the other three leading Bradford the same way. Eventually Xever and Bradford bumped backs, both trapped by us.

"This feel familiar to anyone else?" I asked, smirking.

"You are worthy adversaries," Leo raised his katana, speaking in a slightly formal tone. "But the fight is ours. Lay down your weapons."

"Never!" Xever snapped angrily.

Leo grinned. "You don't have a choice. You've lost."

Bradford glared at Leo. "If I'm going down… I'm taking you with me."

Suddenly, he lifted his katana and shoved it into the glass side of the bomb.

"No!" Donnie shouted.

There was a slightly crackling sound, and suddenly the wall burst open.

"Nia!"

Raph grabbed my arm and pulled me back, keeping me out of harms way. The mutagen flooded out, swallowing Bradford and Xever, and taking them with it over the edge of the building.

The remaining mutagen spilled, emptying from the now worthless bomb. Once all the mutagen was out of harms reach, we sheathed our weapons and hopped down to land on the roof. The last of the mutagen dripped from the hole, and the bomb officially powered down.

"So," Leo smirked as he put his hands on his hips. "To sum up, we kicked the butts of the Kraang, and Shredder's top henchmen while defusing a bomb, _and _saving the city."

"Yeah, we're not over confident," said Raph, who was also smirking.

Leo winked. "We're just that good."

I let out a happy, gleeful laugh. "Whoo! Who's awesome, bros?"

"We're awesome!" they all chorused.

We all cheered, and instantly met in a five-way high-three. I fist-bumped with Mikey as we started to walk away, still cheering for our victory. I walked up to Donnie, who had a confident, pleased look on his face as he held his hands behind his head. I laughed as I threw an arm around his shoulder. _Man, now we can finally go home…_

"Your skills are impressive…"

We stopped walking, instantly freezing. The voice that had spoken… it was dark, and cold. We all turned our heads, looking up at the top level of the bomb. There was a man there. He was dressed in dark, silver armor. Large metal gauntlets were on both of his arms, and he wore a metal helmet that covered his whole face, except for his the eyes. The second I saw him I instantly felt a chill crawl up my spine. The man jumped off of the bomb, and landed with a loud _bang_, crouching in front of us.

"But they will _not_ save you…"

I gulped, taking a small step back.

"Oh, man…" Donnie breathed. "Do you think that's… the Shredder?"

"It's definitely _a_ shredder," Raph muttered.

Shredder stood up, taking a few steps towards us. He looked a lot creepier up close.

"There is undoubtedly a fascinating story of how my old nemesis came to teach ninjutsu to four mutant turtles, and one little girl…"

I felt irritated at that.

"Perhaps I shall let one of you live long enough to tell it."

"You're gonna have to catch us first!" Leo said. "Mikey!"

"So long, sucka!" Mikey yelled.

He grabbed a bomb and threw it on the ground. But instead of purple smoke, a pile of yellow yoke had burst from the white shell. It was an unmade smoke bomb.

"Oh, God…" I whimpered.

Mikey gulped. "Oops… Alright, that one's on me."

I gulped as I looked up. Shredder threw his arms down, and large bladed shot out from each of his gauntlets. He ran forward, charging at us. Raph charged up at him first. Raph swung his sais at Shredder, who swung his blades up at the same time, metal clanging against metal. Raph shot both his sais forward to strike. Shredder crossed his blades, blocking both of Raph's weapons. Shredder swung his leg around, and kicked Raph with such force that he flew back, and slammed into one of the letters of the hotel sign. The thing exploded, and sparks flew as Raph was electrocuted.

"Raph!" me and Leo shouted.

Shredder suddenly landed in front of Leo, looking as though he were trying to punch him into the ground. Shredder swung his leg up to kick Leo, but Leo jumped out of the way. But he wasn't fast enough to miss the punch Shredder delivered. Leo fell to the ground, and Shredder kicked him back.

"Leo!"

Donnie ran forward, kneeling by his older brother, putting a hand on his shell. Then he stood up, glaring at Shredder. Donnie ran forward and swung his Bo staff at Shredder, who jumped up to avoid it. Donnie tried to jab the end of the staff at Shredder's face, but Shredder just grabbed the end of it. He punched the other end of it on Donnie's face before punching him, sending him to the ground.

I growled slightly as I withdrew my kamas and ran forward. I was a foot away from Shredder when I jumped up and somersaulted over him. I landed behind him and spun around, aiming my left kama up at his head. But Shredder turned and blocked it with his gauntlet covered arm. He quickly crouched and swept his leg, knocking me over. I sat up as he stood over me, his blades held up.

"Nia!"

Suddenly, Mikey's kusaurigama chain had shot out and wrapped around Shredder's raised fist. Mikey attempted to pull Shredder back, but Shredder was stronger. He pulled on the chain, and Mikey yelped as he was pulled forward. Shredder spun around, and kicked Mikey in the chest. Mikey started rolling back, but was able to throw a few stars. Shredder raised his blades, blocking the stars. And then, Mikey rolled off the edge.

"No!" I shouted.

Shredder walked towards the edge, looking over to see where Mikey had went. Suddenly, Leo was on his feet again, his katanas in his hands. He held them at his sides and ran up to Shredder, who turned his head in time to block the oncoming blades. Donnie ran up too, and was even able to smack Shredder with his staff.

I quickly got to my feet, grabbing my kamas. I ran over to the edge Mikey had fallen over, and looked around.

"Mikey?"

Suddenly, I saw Mikey at the corner of the building edge. He waved.

"I'm fine!" he called. "I'm gonna get, Raph!"

I nodded, and he was off. I turned my head, and to my horror, both Leo and Donnie were both down. Leo's kantanas lay a few feet away from him, and Donnie's staff lay with the top half broken off. Shredder stood over them, raising his fist.

"Hey!" I shouted.

Shredder whipped his head around, and I smashed the end of my kama handle into his face. He grunted, but wasn't distracted. I ran up and tried to repeat the motion, but he ducked and slid around me. I turned, and swung my kama blades up at him, and he blocked it with his own blades. I spun around and aimed a kick at his head. He ducked under my leg, and aimed a punch for me. I was just barley able to block it with my right kama. I tried to swing my other one at his head, but he caught it. His fist came into contact with my face, and I fell back.

It felt like I blacked out for a second, and the next thing I knew Shredder was kneeling over me, one of his hands holding me by my hoodie. He glared at me for a moment. A second later he reached forward, grabbed my mask, and pulled it up. I gasped. _This is it, _I thought. _He's gonna kill me!_ I sat there, waiting for Shredder to lift his blades and shove them into my throat. But he didn't. Shredder's expression had completely changed. His eyes were wide, and… shocked.

"No…"

He let go of my hoodie and stood up, taking a step back.

"It can't be…"

I sat up and pulled my mask back down over my eyes. What was going on? Why wasn't I dead?

Suddenly, Raph fell from above and landed on Shredder. He started delivering several blows to Shredder's head, but Shredder quickly grabbed Raph and there him over his head and onto the ground. He raised his fist, and Raph yelled.

But Mikey's chain appeared once more, wrapping around Shredder's raised fist. Mikey jumped over one of the signs support beams, holding the other end of the chain. Shredder was pulled up by the chain, and Mikey hooked his kusarigama blade on a lower beam. There was a sickening crack, and Shredder shouted in pain. Then he unsheathed the blades in his free gauntlet, and with a loud yell, sung them forward and sliced off a piece of the sign. The piece fell, and Mikey screamed as it fell on him.

"_Mikey_!" I shrieked.

Me and the others ran forward to help Mikey. The boys grabbed the sides and lifted the piece up. I dropped my kamas as I crouched down and reached under. I grabbed Mikey's wrists and quickly pulled him out.

"You okay?"

Mikey nodded as the boys dropped the piece. He looked up behind me, and gasped. I turned. Shredder was standing there, towering over us. I instantly stood up, grabbing my kamas and taking a defensive stance. I was beat beyond belief, but I had to stay up. The boys followed after me, holding their weapons up. Shredder glared at us before charging at us. We raised our weapons, and jumped towards him.

I knew it was hopeless the second we charged. One by one, each of us were knocked down. First Raph, then Donnie, then Mikey, and then me. A punch with the force of an iron fist met my face, and I was knocked down with the others. I groaned, opening my eyes. I looked up to see Shredder holding Leo up against the wall. He reared his blades back, and lunged them forward. The blades embedded themselves on either side of Leo's head, trapping him there.

"Tell me where Splinter is and I promise your demise will be swift!"

A third blade slowly emerged from the gauntlet, moving dangerously close to Leo's face. Leo turned his head away from the blade, eyes going wide. _Oh God, no…_

Suddenly, there was a loud, shuttering gasp. I whipped my head around and saw two, large figures covered in mutagen had flopped onto the roof. The glowing ooze dripped off of them, and I saw two large, mutated creatures. A large, red fish, and a huge, bulky dog. It was Xever and Bradford.

"_Help me…_!" the fish choked out with Xever's voice.

"Oh, man…" I muttered.

I wasn't the only one surprised. Shredder was so shocked that he had released Leo, who fell to the ground.

"What is this?" he demanded.

"Nia, get up!" I heard Donnie hiss. "Please, get up!"

Ignoring the pain in my body, I forced myself off the ground. I picked up my kamas and sheathed them. Raph helped Leo up to his feet, and we all backed away quickly and quietly. When we were by the ledge we all quickly jumped over. I landed on the ground less gracefully than usual, and I stumbled a bit. From above us, we all heard a furious yell.

"NO…!"

Shredder knew we were gone.

Without saying a word, we all turned sprinted as fast as out legs would let us. My feet were on fire and my legs fled like jelly, but I didn't stop. I ran, and continued running until we reached the nearest manhole cover.

* * *

In all my years of living here, the lair had never been so quiet, nor have I been so relieved to be home. The second we passed the turnstiles I fell to my knees, and whimpered. I couldn't help it. I was so tired, so weak… and still so scared. Raph knelt down beside me, rubbing my back softly. He helped me to my feet and we continued forward. When we had, April ran to us and asked what had happened. None of us could speak; we had no words.

Leo said nothing as he slowly made his way to the dojo. He had to explain to Splinter what had happened; that was the leader's job. Not wanting him to go alone, however, I slowly followed him, trailing behind. He limped slightly as he walked up the small flight of stairs. It wasn't until I was on the stairs that Leo turn around. Only then did I notice the black smudges on his face and mask, and the bruises and cracks in his plastron. He looked surprised, as though he didn't know I had followed him. But, he just gave a small nod, and continued forward.

I followed him until we entered the dojo. Splinter was in there, meditating in front of the tree.

"Sensei…" Leo said, his voice horse.

Sensei opened his eyes and looked over at us. He gasped.

"Leonardo! Lavinia!"

Sensei sprang to his feet and ran towards us. I had never seen him look so worried.

"What happened?" he asked. "How did you get hurt?"

I gulped and opened my mouth to speak. Instead, all that came out was a choked whimper. Leo put his hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. I closed my mouth, and nodded.

"Sensei," Leo started. "We were attacked."

"By who?"

Leo paused.

"…Shredder."

Sensei inhaled sharply, eyes wide. I held myself in my arms, shaking slightly.

"We found out that the Kraang had planted a mutagen bomb on the Wolf Hotel," Leo explained. "We went to defuse it, but Bradford and Xever showed up. We were able to beat them and defuse the bomb. But… Shredder showed up, and…"

He couldn't continue. Leo sighed, closing his eyes. Sensei sighed, too.

"What matters is that you all came home alive."

Leo nodded. I didn't say anything, but stood there.

"Lavinia."

I looked up. "Y-yes, Sensei?"

Sensei looked down at me with concern. But I felt that his concern was aimed at something other than my injuries.

"Is there something you want to tell me, my child?"

I gulped. _Shredder hesitated to kill me! _a voice screamed inside my head. _He didn't kill me and I don't know why!_

"No, Sensei."

Splinter's brows furrowed. _He knows I'm lying… _But, after a moment, he closed his eyes, and nodded.

"Very well," he looked up. "Come."

With that, me and Leo turned, and exited the dojo. I stood there, and looked at everyone. Only now did I see how badly injured we all were. All of them had dents and cracks in their plastrons, and messes on their masks. They all had several bloody cuts and scratches, not to mention purple and black bruises, all of which covered their arms, legs, even their faces. Curiously, I glanced down at myself. My right knee was skinned and bleeding, there were several black bruises on my arms and legs, and my white hoodie was coated in black dirt.

Everyone except Raph was laying in the pit in the living room. Mikey was laying down on his plastron, resting on the beanbag chair. Donnie sat on the couch next to April, whose head was buried in her arms. Raph was standing next to the pinball machine, arms folded. I slowly shuffled my way over to the pit, and fell to my knees on the floor next to Mikey. He looked up at me, and I looked at him. A second later he lunged forward, still laying in the chair, and wrapped his arms around my waist. I bent over slightly as I hugged him back. I heard Raph yell, and I watched as he pushed the pinball machine before sliding to the ground, folding his arms over his knees.

"You were all very lucky," I heard Sensei tell us.

"I think we defy that word differently, Sensei," Raph grumbled, but we all heard him.

"Few have every faced the Shredder and survived," Splinter continued.

Mikey glanced up, still hugging me. "He was just so fast…"

"It was like he was everywhere at once," muttered Donnie.

"We'd be dead if he hadn't gotten distracted," I said, my voice cracking.

Mikey looked up at me sadly, and hugged me some more.

"You were right about us being over confident, Sensei," said Leo. "There are some things were just not ready for…"

I looked up to see Leo had a disappointed look on his face. Sensei put a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps…" he said. "But that no longer matters. It is clear now that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away."

I hugged Mikey a little tighter, suddenly feeling very scared.

"So prepare yourselves, my children. Because as of this moment… _we are at war_…"


	15. Panic in the Sewers

Ch. 10  
Panic In The Sewers

"_C'mon, Nia! Really?"_

"Sorry, Vanessa, but I promised my bros that I'd hang with them tonight."

"_You realize you're the only girl in this world who actually _wants _to hang with her brothers, right?"_

I sighed. "Yes, I am fully aware of that."

"_Yeah… Look, we haven't hung out in a week! Not since… Well, you just said your family was going through some stuff, and I get that, but…"_

I sighed again. It was true. I hadn't hung out with Vanessa or Angus since before we fought the Shredder. I guess I was too nervous about going out. But I didn't feel too bad. The guys haven't been out in a week either. In face, tonight is the first time we're going to go out for patrol.

"Look, just give me a few more days. We'll hang out some more, I promise."

I heard her sigh on the other end of the line, but I could tell she wasn't annoyed.

"Alright, then. Well, I've got some homework to do anyway. Bye, Nia."

"See yah."

I lowered my T-Phone and hung up.

"Ready now?" Leo asked.

I nodded. "Yep," I said, putting my phone in my pocket.

"C'mon!" Raph said enthusiastically.

We all turned and started walking for the exit.

"Where are you going?"

We turned. Sensei was walking towards us. I couldn't help but notice the stern look on his face.

"Heading out for our evening patrol," Leo explained.

"There will be no patrol!" Sensei snapped.

I flinched. Leo stared.

"Sensei…?"

"Last time you fought the Shredder, you barley escaped with your lives!"

"But, Sensei," Raph said. "Next time, we'll be ready."

Sensei's eyes narrowed. "Yes!"

Suddenly, he gripped him and pulled him forward. Raph yelped in pain as Sensei pulled his arm back in a painful twist.

"Because you will stay down here until you _are _ready! No patrol, no games, no rest! There is _only _training!"

He released Raph's arm, and shoved him forward into us.

"Starting _now_!"

Think what you want, say I'm over reacting. But for the first time ever, I was scared of my sensei.

* * *

"_More_, Sensei?" Mikey asked.

"Yes! More!"

I stood there, hunched over as I continued panting. I've never been so tired from training in my life. The only reason I wasn't doing something this second was because the boys were paired up at the moment. _Sometimes it's good to be a fifth wheel._

Donnie and Mikey, both still panting, charged forward. Leo and Raph grabbed them by their arms, flipped them over, and threw them on the ground.

"There is no intention in your strikes!" Sensei snapped.

I yawned sleepily, rubbing my eyes. _Whack! _I yelped as I felt Sensei's staff smacked my arm painfully.

"Pay attention, Lavinia!" he said forcefully, and he jabbed his staff forward. "Spar with Donatello!"

"Hai, Sensei!"

Shaking my head to force the sleep out of me, I walked forward as Donnie slowly stood up. I crouched slightly, arms held out in defense. I charged forward, and so did Donnie. I raised my fist to aim a punch, but Donnie ducked. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind me, but not enough to hurt me.

"You were not focused enough, Lavinia!" Sensei yelled. "Do it again! We will practice all night if we have to!"

"We _have _been practicing all night," Donnie said incredulously, releasing my arm.

I would've looked at the watch that around my neck to see if Donnie was correct, but I had lost it during the fight with Shredder. Needless to say, I was in desperate for a replacement.

I heard soft mumbling, and I looked down. Mikey was laying on the floor, apparently asleep, mumbling.

"Pizza…mmm…"

"Wake him up!" Sensei demanded.

Raph smirked. "Gladly."

Raph reached down and grabbed Mikey by his shell. He then flipped him over and slammed him onto his shell. Suddenly, Mikey shot up, wide away, and screamed.

"Ahh! Shredder's here!"

"Relax, you were just having a nightmare," Leo soothed, helping his little brother to his feet.

"Aren't we all," Raph grumbled.

"Impossible," I leaned an arm on his shoulder. "We'd have to be sleeping to be in a nightmare."

"…Good point."

"Sensei," Donnie spoke up, breathing heavily. "Can we rest for a sec?"

"Rest?" Sensei turned to look at us. "Hm… The Shredder will not rest… until you are all _dead_!"

I cringed, gripping Raph's shoulder a little too tightly. He glanced over at me, but I didn't look at him.

"Sensei," Leo began. "We've been training nonstop for weeks with hardly any sleep. They need a break."

"'They'?" I asked, frowning at Leo. "Don't you mean 'we'?"

"Yeah! Like you don't need a break!" Raph snapped.

"That's right, Raph. I _don't_," Leo said firmly.

"Ah. Well then I'll _give _you a break!"

_WHACK!_ In one, powerful hit, Sensei knocked us all off of our feet. We fell back and landed in a pile on the floor.

"If I were the Shredder, none of you would be _breathing _right now," he said as we sat up. "Understand?!"

We all stared up at him, not saying a word. Then Mikey fell back on Leo, asleep once more.

"…Perhaps a _brief _rest is in order," said Sensei, and he started walking towards his room. "We will resume later."

Without hesitating, we all fell back on each other. I laid my head on Donnie's lap and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Sensei must have been feeling very generous after me and the guys passed out yesterday, because he decided to let us have this afternoon off. And boy, did we take advantage of it.

After catching up on some very much needed sleep we all found our own ways to relax. Donnie had gone into his lab, no doubt to work on something important and scientific. Mikey had run off to the kitchen to get a snack, but I haven't seen him since. Leo was in the pit, still practicing with his katanas, but was watching 'Space Heroes' at the same time. I was lying back on the couch, listening to my music on the T-Pod, and I was laying my head in Raph's lap. I would glance up at him from time to time to see him reading his comic, but I wouldn't say anything.

After what felt like half an hour I felt Raph tap my shoulder. I pulled out one of my earbuds and looked up at him.

"What?"

"Watch this."

Raph reached behind him and pulled out a shuriken. He held it up and took careful aim before tossing it with a lazy flick of his wrist. The star hit the power button, and the screen went black.

"What?!"

Leo froze and let out an exclamation of surprise. Raph chuckled, and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Leo snapped, turning to look at Raph.

"Oh, sorry! It was Spike's idea," Raph said as the little turtle crawled up his shoulder. "He said 'Space Heroes' is too stupid for him."

"That's saying something, considering he hangs out with _you _and Nia all day."

"Excuse you?" I asked, quickly sitting up.

"Oh, nice job, Leo!" Raph stood up, and I saw Spike had crawled off of him and was now eating his leaf. "You made him angry. So I'm gonna mop the floor with your face!"

Raph pointed a threatening finger into Leo's face. Leo shook his head and moved his brother's hand.

"Alright, Raph. _Cool off_."

"I can help with that!"

I whipped my head around in time to see a bright blue balloon fly pass me and hit Raph's face, water exploding all over him. I turned my head back to see Mikey standing there, grinning widely as he juggled two water balloons in his hands.

"Dr. Prank-enstein strikes again!" he called happily.

Raph stomped over to Mikey, fists clenched and growling, fire trailing behind him. But Mike just continued smiling.

"Dude, you should see your face right now," he giggled. "You look _so _mad!"

"Mikey," I warned.

I saw Raph grin evilly. "Okay, Spike. You'll like this show," he cracked his knuckled. "It's called 'Does Mikey Bend That Way?'!"

Mikey finally seem to have gotten the message. He screamed as h turned on his heel and ran, Raph sprinting behind him.

"C'mere, you!"

"Ahh!"

I set the T-Pod down as I stood up and walked next to Leo, both of us watching as Raph jumped on top of his little brother and started pummeling him. _Well, he did ask for it, _I thought. But after a few moments I felt that Mikey had had enough.

"That's enough, Raph!" I said, grabbing his shell. "C'mon, let him up!"

Raph smacked Mikey's head once more before standing up, letting me pull him back.

"He was asking for it!" he growled, still glaring at Mikey.

I sighed as I walked forward to stand in front of him.

"I know, Raph. That's why I didn't' stop you immediately. But you still don't have to-"

_Splash! _I felt a water balloon suddenly explode on my back. I gasped and seized up; the water was ice cold.

"Gah!" I yelped. "Cold! Really cold!"

I heard Mikey laugh from behind me.

"Dr. Prank-enstein shows no mercy!"

Dispirit to rid myself of the cold, I quickly took off my hoodie. The air on my damp back made me shiver. I held my hoodie by the hood and held it up. The thing was dripping with water. I threw the thing on the ground in frustration, and glared at Mikey.

"Would it kill yah to use _warm _water?" I asked accusingly.

Mikey giggled mischievously. I groaned.

"I can't even… ugh…"

Raph started laughing, and I glared at him.

"It's not funny!"

"Yeah, it is!"

I sighed. "I'm gonna go see what Donnie's up to…"

I turned and started walking towards Donnie's lab. The others obviously had nothing better to do, and followed me.

I opened the lab doors and walked in. Inside was what looked like a large go-kart with five seats. It had two seats attached to each other on either side of a fifth seat in the very middle. It took me another second of looking to realize that the center seat looked like a wide motor bike. Donnie was kneeling beside the go-kart, wearing a protection mask and handling a blowtorch.

"Hey, Don."

Donnie switched off the torch and lifted his mask. He smiled.

"Hey, Nia," he looked down at me and frowned. "Why are you wet?"

I looked down to see my green tank-top was wet on one side.

"Oh, you know," I wave and airy hand. "Mikey had a few water balloons… things got crazy."

"Ah."

"You're still working on that go-kart?" Raph asked.

"It's not a go-kart," Donnie lifted up his blueprints. "It's a terrain patrol buggy with detachable sidecars and a motorbike center."

"Cool!" I smiled. "I'm guessing I got the motorbike?"

"That would be correct."

"How come Nia gets the bike?" Raph asked irritably.

"Because I specifically built the bike to fit for Nia and carry her weight," Donnie explained.

Raph didn't respond and folded his arms, looking irritable. I smirked and leaned on his shoulder.

"No hard feelings, bro?"

Raph rolled his eyes, smirking as he shoved me off.

"Dude, hasn't Splinter been riding us hard enough?" Mikey asked leaning an arm on the go-kart. "You gotta find a way to relax."

"We all deal with stress in different ways, Mikey," said Leo.

"He's right," I added. "Like, Leo had 'Space Heroes', Raph has his comics, and I have my music."

Donnie nodded. "Yeah. This is how I deal."

"And this is how _I _deal…"

Mikey suddenly flung his arm forward and threw a water balloon. Leo ducked to avoid being hit, and the balloon hit Donnie's face instead, water exploding. I face palmed.

"Good grief…"

Donnie groaned angrily, grabbing his protection mask and throwing it on the ground. He leaped past Leo and started chasing Mikey, who had started running.

"You're next, Leo!" Mikey called. "Dr. Prank-enstein makes house calls!"

I sighed. _What am I gonna do with these boys?_

* * *

I'll admit, I'd rather train with Leo in charge instead of Splinter right now, but that didn't mean that I was keen on training at all.

"Hoko no kamae!" Leo ordered.

We all raised our hands up, taking the position. All of us, except Raph.

"Raph! Hoko no kamae!"

"Hoko no _way_! It's bad enough Splinter's driving us into the ground. Now you too?"

"We have to keep training," Leo stressed. "Because right now, we don't stand a chance against Shredder."

"Yeah," Mikey pointed up at the ceiling. "And he's up there… somewhere… waiting for us!" suddenly he whimpered and shuddered. "I just freaked myself out!"

"We're all freaked out, Mikey," I said soothingly, patting his shell.

"I hate to say it, but the fact that we've been laying low might be the only reason we're still alive," said Donnie.

"Exactly," said Leo. "So, until we're ready, we stay down here."

"Unfortunately, that's not an option."

We all turned. April was standing in the doorway, her phone held in her hands.

"April?" I asked. "What're you doing here?"

"You guys need to hear this," she said, waving her phone.

Within a few minutes we all entered the living room. Me and the guys sat on the couch around April. Mikey had gotten Master Splinter, and he stood over us, observing.

"I managed to slip a mic onto the Purple Dragons," April told us. "I was able to record what they said, and it's not good…"

April flipped through her phone before pulling up a file. She clicked it, and a recording started playing.

"_Check it out, free pizza!"_

I blinked. "You stuck the mic on a pizza box?"

April shrugged sheepishly, and we focused on the recording. For a while all we heard was vulgar, poker talk. After a minutes though, the topic changed to something a bit more interesting.

"_We're meeting Shredder tonight. He's got a plan to destroy the Turtles and the girl."_

"_How? He doesn't even know where they are."_

"_He says they're in the sewers somewhere, and that's all he needs to know to wipe them out."_

The recording ended here.

"Our home is no longer safe," said Sensei. "The Shredder must be stopped."

"But how can we stop a plan we don't even know?" Leo asked.

Then he pulled out a throwing knife and threw it behind him. The weapon hit the water balloon Mikey was holding, and the it exploded. Mikey hunched over, looking deflated.

"We have to go topside and find out what they're planning," said Raph.

"Raph's right," said Leo. "There's no other way."

I stood up, putting my hands in my pockets. "Sensei?" I asked.

He sighed. "Go," he said. "Stop Shredder."

* * *

It hadn't been hard to actually find the Purple Dragons. It had been even less hard to follow them. They had led us to a building that looked like it was some sort of church. Though, I had a good feeling there was nothing holy going on in there.

"This is the place," Leo whispered.

We all piled up by the corner, trying to stay hidden and keep the church in our sights. It took me a second to realized that I was being sandwiched between Raph and Mikey."

"Mikey, kinda squished here."

"Oops! My bad," he said quickly, moving to stand next to Leo.

"Donnie, your crowding me," Raph grumbled, shifting his arms uncomfortably.

"Sorry," he whispered, and he started to back up.

_Clash! _The sound of a trashcan being disturbed sounded loudly. Mikey yelped as he jumped, accidentally smacking his shell into Raph's face. Mikey instantly latched himself onto Leo's arm, shaking slightly.

"Dude!" I said.

"Sorry!" he said nervously as he let go of Leo. "All that Splinter talk about how we're not ready has me thinking'… maybe we're in over our heads."

Raph raised his fist and smack Mikey's head. "You're _always _in over your head!"

"I'm saying now we _all_ are! And that scares me…!"

"It's okay to be scared, Mikey," Leo said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Yeah," I said. "Me and Donnie are scared."

"See?" said Leo. "We're all a bit scared. Raph is scared, too."

"I am _not _scared!" Raph said.

He walked forward and crouched next to Leo, looking at the church. I saw Leo smirk before lifting his hand and poking the back of Raph's head. Raph yelped and spun around frantically, reaching his arms back to grab whatever was messing with him. He quickly tried to cover it up with a low, awkward couch. I chuckled.

"Still not scared?" I asked.

"No! I'm not!"

Leo chuckled, and Raph growled. A second later he gasped. I didn't need to ask why when I heard a low, terrifying growl. Not even a second later a large, tall creature appeared from around the corner. He was huge, at least 6'. What looked like large spikes were protruding from his left shoulder and on the knuckles of his left hand, which was considerably larger than the right. His fur was mostly brown and white, and his eyes were bloodshot red.

I instantly recognized it as the giant mutant dog from the night we fought Shredder.

"You should be…" he growled in a low voice.

"Bradford?" Leo gasped.

"Rad-Brad!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Well, look what I found," he grinned. "Five soon-to-be _ex_-ninjas."

"I'm sure glad it's okay to be scared," Mikey whimpered.

Donnie gulped. "You and me both."

"This is no time to panic!" Leo said as he withdrew his katanas.

Bradford stood at his full height, and I felt myself falter slightly. He was _huge_!

"You sure about that?" I asked.

"Okay, maybe a little," Leo said shortly.

At once the rest of us withdrew our weapons. I gripped my kamas tightly. Bradford snarled heavily as he stomped towards us, dragging the spikes on his left hand on the concrete.

"He keeps getting taller!" Mikey whimpered.

"Then I'll cut him down to size!" said Leo.

He charged forward and jumped, swinging his katanas at Bradford's head. Bradford blocked it easily with his enormous left paw. He growled at the turtle and pushed him back. Bradford aimed a punch down at Leo, who jumped out of the way just in time. He leaped back and landed in front of us.

"Uh… let's stick together on this one," he said.

"I like that plan," I said.

Bradford smashed his paw down, and we all jumped out of the way. Raph yelled as he charged at Bradford, wielding his sais. But the mutant dog simply blocked it with his smaller, padded paw. Donnie went to Raph's aid, running forward and shoving the end of his Bo staff into Bradford throat. He growled before swinging at both turtles, who dodged.

Leo ran forward at Bradford. He jumped up, lifting his katanas, ready to strike. When he came down Bradford used his claws to block the swords, also trapping them in his grasp. Leo tried to kick the dog in his face, but Bradford just lifted him higher and punched him away.

"You asked for it," I growled.

I held my kamas out as I charged forward to the mutant dog. He raised his fist and brought it down to smack me, but I jumped up in time to avoid being hit. I raised my kamas as I shot forward towards Bradford's face. He blocked my blades with his huge paw, and grabbed me with the other. He then threw me back, and I slammed into the wall. I slid to the ground into a pathetic heap.

"Nia!"

I looked up to see Raph running towards me. He kneeled beside me and grabbed my arm, helping me to my feet.

"Thanks," I groaned.

I heard a loud _bang_, and I looked up to see Mikey and Donnie laying in a pile on the ground.

"This is hopeless!" said Donnie.

"Keep your head in the game!" Leo ordered.

Suddenly, Bradford made to punch both of them. They quickly leaped out of the way.

"I just wanna keep my _head_ on my _body_!" Donnie yelled.

"C'mon! What are we retreating for?" Raph asked.

He charged forward. He aimed his sais up at Bradford, but the dog delivered a powerful blow to the turtle. He flew back and landed inside a dumpster. He shoved his head out.

"That's a good reason…" he said, his voice strained.

"Mikey, smoke!" Leo ordered.

Mikey reached behind him and pulled out a smoke bomb. He fumbled around with it before accidentally dropping it. It landed on the ground with a pathetic _puff_ of smoke.

"Mikey," I groaned.

"What was _that_?" Raph shouted.

"I'm _stressed_!" Mikey screamed. "Excuse me if my aim's a little off!"

"Are you really gonna have this argument _now_?" I hollered.

Bradford's fist came down again, nearly hitting Leo and Donnie.

"How hard is it to hit the ground?" Raph growled.

He pulled out his own bomb and threw it down. Unfortunately it fell into a hole in a grate. Raph knelt to grab it, but it fell through the hole.

"Not so easy, is it!" Mikey snapped.

Leo yelled in frustration. "Oh, will you guys just-!"

He pulled out a bomb, and this time it exploded, as needed. The second the purple smoke appeared I turned and ran, my bros following behind me.

* * *

"Man, that was embarrassing," I groaned, placing my face in my hands.

"Tell me about it," Raph grumbled irritably.

The other three remained quite as we all sat on the couch. There was really nothing we could say that could explain how badly we had failed. Splinter walked up to us and stood in front of Leo. Leo looked up at our sensei, then hunched over shamefully.

"We couldn't take him," he said lowly.

"Dogpound was just too powerful…" said Mikey.

Leo looked up. "Dogpound?"

"What? 'Cause he's a dog, and he pounded us into the-"

"We get it," Leo sighed. "I don't see how we're gonna get close to that meeting now…"

"Maybe we just need to find a new place to hide," Donnie said, and he turned his laptop so we could see the screen. "I hear the sewers in Florida are nice this time of year."

"No!" April reached forward and shut Donnie's laptop. "I'm not letting you guys give up."

"Well, what do you suggest?" I asked.

April stood firmly in front of us. "_I'll _spy on the meeting."

Our reactions were instant.

"No way!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"You can't!"

"Forget it!"

"Hell to the no!"

"Absolutely not!" Sensei finished firmly.

"I can do this!" she insisted, and she turned to Splinter. "You've been training me to be a kunoichi!"

"For a few weeks," he stressed.

"What choice do we have?" she looked at us seriously. "Shredder's gonna attack your home and we need to find out how. And I'm the only one who can do it."

As much as I still didn't like April putting herself in danger, she was right. This place was my home- my family's home, and we couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

"April's right," I stood up. "We can't just sit here and wait for Shredder to knock on our door," I looked at April. "But it's too risky letting you go alone. I'll go with you-"

"NO!" the boys shouted at once.

I jumped. "What? She's still a rookie- no offense- and I can't let her go on her own. I'll just stay close by and-"

"Don't even think about it!" Raph growled.

"I am thinking about it!" I snapped. "I can't just sit by and wait for-"

"Lavinia!"

I stopped talking and turned my head to look and Sensei.

"Your concern is understandable," he said. "But it is too risky letting two of you try to get inside, you may draw attention to yourselves. You _will _remain with your brothers."

"But, Sensei-"

"Do I make myself clear?"

I blinked, staring up at my sensei. He was giving me that look; the look that said 'you will listen, or else'. I sighed, and lowered my head slightly.

"Yes, Sensei…"

I heard him let out a low sigh. I lifted my head and turned to look at April.

"So… what did you have in mind?"

* * *

"I don't like this," Donnie said seriously.

"Me neither," Mikey shook his head. "Giving the enemy a free pizza? Never a good idea."

I rolled my eyes as sat on the ledge, looking down at the hooded figure that was April. She was holding what was clearly a pizza box, which had a mic taped to it, just like the one she had slipped onto the Purple Dragons. She knocked on the door, and it opened slightly.

"Come on…" I muttered.

Not even five seconds later the door slammed in April's face.

"Damn it."

I watched as April turned from the door and ran into a nearby alley, still holding the pizza. Then Leo's T-Phone started ringing. He pulled it out, saw it was April, and answered, putting it on speaker.

"_Looks like the Foot Clan are smarter than the Purple Dragons."_

"They'd almost have to be, wouldn't they?" said Leo. "Thanks, April. You did your best."

Suddenly the church bells sounded. A few spooked pigeons took flight.

"At least we still got the pizza," Mikey said happily.

April laughed on the other line. _"Oh, I'm not done yet."_

"Wait, what is she _doing_?" Donnie asked, leaning over the edge.

I looked down to see April toss the pizza box into a nearby trashcan.

"Not the pizza!" Mikey cried. "She's gone rouge!"

I giggled, and continued to watch April. She removed her hood before knocking on the door of an apartment building next to the church. The door opened, and a man appeared. Him and April conversed for a few moments before April pushed past him and went inside.

"She's so cool!" Donnie said dreamily.

We sat there and waited for only a few minutes. Suddenly, I saw April walking up the fire escape of the apartment building, now rid of her jacket.

"There she is!" I said, pointing in her direction.

We watched as April as she crouched on the railing of the escape for a moment. Then she leapt forward and landed on the ledge of the church roof. But I saw her wave her arms out, as though about to loose her balance. A second later she fell back, almost falling until she grabbed the edge of the roof.

"Oh, no!" Donnie whimpered.

I clenched my hands into fists as I waited. _C'mon, April… _A second later April finally managed to pull herself up, and stepped on the roof. Donnie let out a sigh of relief, and smiled.

"That a girl," I said.

April walked along the church ledge for a moment before climbing through a hole in the stain glass window.

A few minutes later Leo's phone rang again. He quickly answered it and put it on speaker, and Shredder's sounded from the other end of the line.

"…_in approximately fifteen minutes. The chemical is extremely rare, so you will not get another chance…"_

"Chemical? What chemical?" Raph said over Shredder's voice.

"How 'bout we listen and find out?" Donnie said irritably.

"How 'bout I break your shell on me knee!"

"How 'bout you two shut it for a minutes while we try to hear Shredder's evil plan!" Leo snapped.

They instantly shut their mouths and listened, but it was too late.

"…_Which will destroy them once and for all. Now go!"_

"We missed it!" Leo groaned. "Oh, great! Nice going, guys!"

I groaned as I rubbed my forehead. Now what? We didn't have enough info to know what Shredder's plan was. Then Donnie ran to the ledge of the building.

"We gotta get April out!"

"No!" Leo grabbed his shoulder. "If we rush in there we put her at risk. We wait."

Donnie still looked worried, but he remained still as Leo let go of him.

We all waited patiently as we watched Dogpound, the Dragons, and a few Foot walk outside and towards a few vans parked in front of them. Suddenly, I saw April slide down the fire escape, staying hidden in the alley.

"_I'm gonna hitch a ride; see where they go."_

"No, you've done enough!" Leo hissed into his phone. "Now get outta there!"

At that moment I saw Dogpound freeze in his tracks. A second later he turned towards the alley April was hiding in.

"Leo!" I yelled, pointing down at the mutant.

"Bradford heard you!" he yelled. "April, run!"

We all heard April gasp on the other end of the line. It was too late. I whipped my head around and watched in horror as Dogpound grab April and shove her into the van.

"Let's go!" I shouted.

I jumped off the building, and the boys followed my lead. We landed in the road just as the van drove off, Dogpound hanging on the back.

"No! We're too late!" Donnie shouted.

"Ah, crap!" I snapped.

"April!" Leo shouted into his phone. "April, are you there?"

"She's not gonna answer, Leo," said Donnie. "What do we do?"

"We gotta get April outta that van, but- but Dogpound's in there! And we're not ready to fight that guy! Oh, Splinter was right! We should've stayed below!"

"Leo, calm down!" I said, grabbing his shoulders. "We couldn't stay below forever! Our home is being threatened! We _had _to come up!"

"But we aren't ready!" he said desperately. "And we let April put herself in danger! You were right, Nia! We shouldn't have let her go alone, we should've let you go with her!"

I stared at Leo as he continued to have a panic attack. From next to me I heard Raph sigh.

"I can't believe I'm gonna say this…" he turned to face Leo. "Get it together, captain! You're our leader, so act like one!"

I blinked, staring at him. Anyone with a brain cell could tell that that was a line from 'Space Heroes.' Leo suddenly straightened up, and turned to grin at his brother.

"You're right, Raph. That was the anxiety ray talking."

I rolled my eyes. _Fanboys…_

"That's it?" Raph asked. "You're not gonna slap yourself?"

Leo shook his head. "Let's save April."

Raph nodded. "And our home."

"But we'll never catch 'em on foot!" said Donnie.

Leo smirked. "We're not going on foot…"

* * *

Donnie's Patrol Buggy was awesome! Simply awesome! And the fact that I had the motorbike center was even more awesome!

"Yeah! This is _rad_!" Mikey yelled.

"It's not ready!" Donnie yelled warningly.

Leo, who had control of the whole kart at the moment, suddenly made a sharp right turn, and I let out a happy yell as we turned into an alley.

"This thing is awesome!" Mikey shouted. "Does it have a radio?"

"No, it doesn't have a radio!" Donnie snapped loudly.

"You should install one!" I shouted. "It would make this thing a hell of a lot cooler!"

Donnie ignored me. "I'm telling yah, it's not ready!"

Leo ignored his little brother by pulling the accelerator. The Buggy gave a sudden spurt of speed, and we went zooming down the street. I gripped the handlebars of the bike and let out another happy shout.

"Seems ready to me!" Leo shouted.

Suddenly his steering wheel popped off. He yelped and quickly put it back on.

"Eh… okay. Don't pull on that and we'll be fine."

I rolled my eyes.

It took what felt like forever for us to find Dogpound's van. We found it alright; along with Dogpound, who was now riding on the back of an eighteen wheeler holding a tanker. _Oh, perfect…_

"Run 'em down!" Dogpound shouted.

"Raph, get ready!" Leo shouted.

"For what?"

"This!"

Leo then pulled at a lever to his right, and suddenly the Buggy split up into three sections. Leo and Donnie where still attached on my left, and Raph and Mikey were still attached on my right. I, however, was riding solo.

"Oh, crap!" I cried.

I quickly grabbed the handlebars of the bike as I felt the tires hit the ground. I shook slightly before I finally got a grip of the motor and started riding steadily. I quickly turned the bike so that it went around the large tanker and drove forward.

"Leo!" Raph shouted. "You could've been a little more specific!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Leo turned to me. "How you holding up, Nia?"

I adjusted the biker helmet on my head. "Yah know… it ain't so hard!" I shouted with glee. "This is awesome!"

He laughed, and we continued on.

We all drove up until we were right behind the large tanker.

"Get ready!" he shouted to us.

I turned the bike so that I was riding right next to Leo and Donnie, who where still attached. On the back of the tanker I saw two large words bolded in blue.

"Chlorosulfonic acid?" Donnie gasped. "Leo, I think I've figured out Shredder's plan. That acid reacts violently with water!"

"So if he dumps it in the sewer…"

"It'll all be incinerated in _seconds_! Including the lair!"

"And Splinter!" Leo shouted. "We gotta stop him!"

"I'm down with that!" I said, and I cranked up the speed on my bike.

We continued to follow the tanker and the van for a while. Then, out of nowhere, the van changed courses and turned left.

"Donnie!" Leo ordered. "You and Raph stay with the van and save April. Mikey, Nia, you're coming with me. We have to stop that tanker!"

"Sure thing!" I said.

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, I'm stuck with Raph!"

"No problem!" Raph said, smirking.

He reached down and pulled a lever, and Mikey's cart detached itself from Raph's. Mikey shouted as he and his cart flew back.

"Hey, that _was_ fun!" said Raph.

"Told yah!" said Leo.

He detached himself from Donnie, and we were all riding freely now. As instructed, Donnie and Raph went back to follow the van. Me, Mikey and Leo stayed on course and continued to follow the tanker.

"Mikey, lets slow this thing down!" ordered Leo. "Fire grappling hooks!"

"Got it!"

Each of the boys fired grappling hooks from the front of their carts. The hooks latched themselves onto the truck for a moment, then the ropes snapped.

"Donnie did say they weren't ready!" Mikey shouted.

"I know!" Leo snapped.

"Come on, guys!" I hollered. "We can do this!"

The tanker suddenly made a sharp turn and skidded to a halt at the end of the road. Dogpound jumped off of the tanker and slid on the ground. He grabbed a manhole cover and threw it out at Leo. The turtle managed to jump out of his sidecar before the cover hit the car, shattering it. Leo landed in the street, pulling out his katanas.

"Is that all you got?" he asked.

Dogpound let out a furious growl and started stomping towards Leo. Me and Mikey skidded our vehicles to a halt on either side of Leo.

"I'd say that's a no," said Mikey.

"A big, fat no!" I said as I jumped off the bike.

Me and Mikey withdrew our weapons, and we all charged forward. Dogpound brought his heavy fist down to slam us into the ground, and we all jumped out of the way. We were coming down, ready to strike him. Dogpound punched Mikey out of the way, and he knocked into me. We both fell back and tumbled onto the road.

"Not… cool…" he groaned.

"Agreed…"

We both pushed ourselves up and got to our feet. I looked up to see Leo get knocked down. Before I could do anything Mikey leapt up and swung his nunchucks at the mutant dog's head. Dogpound growled and punched Mikey, sending him flying.

"Over here!" I shouted.

Dogpound turned his head as I threw my left kama at his head. It scraped the top of his head as he ducked to avoid it. I swung my right kama up towards his face, but he blocked it with the spikes on his large hand. I jumped up and did a summersault over his head and landed on the road behind him. I grabbed my other kama and whipped around just in time to block the strike he aimed for me with his spikes. I pushed his hand back and went to swing my kama when he grabbed me with his large hand and threw me. I landed in a heap on top of Mikey's shell. Not long after that, Leo joined us, landing next to us.

Dogpound approached us, looking menacing. Suddenly Leo threw down a smoke bomb, and we disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. We soon reappeared on the upper floor that was under construction.

"You guys… okay?" I panted.

"Yeah… we cool…" Mikey breathed.

I nodded. We all turned our heads to look down below at the tanker. A Foot soldier stepped out of the vehicle and took out a long, red hose that was no doubt attached to the acid inside the tanker. He than started to pull it closer to the open manhole.

"Don't let him dump that acid!" Leo ordered.

Dogpound's fist came up and tried to squash us. Mikey leapt back and jumped off the construction. Dogpound made to swing at him but missed. Mikey quickly ran up to the Foot soldier handling the hose, drawing out his nunchucks. Dogpound growled as he jumped down and started running towards Mikey.

"Oh no, you don't!" I yelled.

Me and Leo jumped off of the construction and sprinted towards Dogpound. Leo raised his katanas and aimed them at the mutant, but Dogpound punched him back. Leo quickly leapt back, his weapons raised. Dogpound picked up a nearby car and swung it at Leo. Leo jumped out of the way and swung his katanas down. Dogpound blocked them and grabbed Leo by his shell, tossing him back.

I shouted as I ran up to him, kamas raised up. Dogpound raised both of his fists and threw them down. I jumped back out of the way to avoid the blow. I jumped up and raised my foot to aim a kick at the dog's head. He ducked and swung his larger fist forward, forcing me into the ground. I barley had enough time to look up before he kicked me back, and I slammed into Leo and Mikey, making them fall over.

"Hey guys…" I groaned dryly.

I looked up to see Dogpound charging at us, his fist raised in the air. We all scattered out of the way just in time to avoid being smashed. I groaned as I looked up to see Leo swing his katanas at Dogpound. The dog blocked the blow and grabbed Leo's wrist, forcing it up. This caused the katana in his hand to stab into the side of the tanker. Yellow liquid started to leak out.

Leo kicked Dogpound, and the mutant let go of the turtle. Leo fell, taking his katana out of the tanker. The yellow colored acid started pouring out freely. Dogpound grinned evilly, and stalked away.

"What did Donnie say about this stuff?" Leo asked.

"He said it reacts violently with water," I told him.

Leo gasped, then quickly turned to Mikey. "Mikey! Throw the water balloon!"

"Uh… what water balloon?"

"The one you were gonna hit _me_ with!"

I leaned back slightly, and stared. Mikey was indeed holding a bright yellow water balloon behind his back.

"Dude, you are good…!" he said.

He tossed the balloon out at the spewing acid, and Leo grabbed him and pushed him out of the way. We all ran over and jumped to the other side of a car just as the tanker exploded. I covered and ducked my head as smoke and debris flew everywhere. Slowly, we all stood up and looked over the car. The tanker was destroyed.

"Nice shot, Mik-"

But Leo was cut off as Mikey threw a _second _water balloon at his face. The balloon met its target, and water exploded all over Leo.

"Dr. Prank-enstein for the win!" Mikey said, throwing his hands up in victory.

"You had _two_?" Leo asked incredulously. "Where do you keep them?!"

"Some things are best left unknown, Leonardo," I stated firmly, but I was still grinning.

From behind us I could hear two pairs of footsteps. I turned around to see Donnie and Raph running up to us. Obviously they had been successful in rescuing April.

"Well, looks like we missed the fireworks," Raph said, grinning.

"Oh yeah," I said, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "They were _spectacular_! You should've seen 'em up close!"

Raph chuckled, putting an arm around my waist.

"Donnie, the go-kart worked great!" Leo said, folding his arms. "Nice job!"

"Thanks Leo!" said Donnie, then he frowned. "And it's a _Patrol Buggy_!"

* * *

"Nothing says 'victory' like the sweet taste of pizza!" Mikey said happily as he ate a slice of pizza whole.

"Amen to that!" I agreed, taking a bite out of the crust, which was all that remained of my slice.

The other boys didn't respond, and instead decided to eat their own slices. Donnie was about to take a bite out of his own when he paused.

"Something wrong, Don?" I asked through a mouth full of crust.

Donnie sniffed his slice. "Eh… this pizza smells kinda funky. Where'd you get?" he asked Mikey.

"It's the one April threw out."

I don't think I've ever spat anything out quicker than when I did right then. The second I heard this I spat out the bit of crust I had an coughed, trying to get any remains out. The boys were no better. They had thrown their slices on the ground and were coughing and retching with disgust.

"What?" Mikey asked, looking annoyed. "We live in a _sewer_, now you're _clean freaks_?"

"Damn it, Mikey!" I threw my remaining crust at his head. "That's disgusting! I practically ate the whole thing!"

"So what?" he asked. "You've been living with a bunch of guys in a sewer for _seven_ years, _now _you decide to act like a girl? Heh, more for me!"

Mikey then scooped up the sliced the boys had dropped and gobbled them up.

"Expect a big 'I told you so' speech when you wake up with a stomach ache tomorrow," I told him, arms folding.

"I ain't gonna get a stomach ache!" he retorted through a mouth full of pizza.

I rolled my eyes.

"My children…"

I turned my head to see Master Splinter standing behind us.

"I owe you my gratitude… and an apology."

"An apology?" Leo asked as he stood up.

"Fear clouded your minds," Sensei continued. "However, it was not the Shredder who fueled that fear, but me. You over came that fear and performed admirably."

I stood up. "Thank you, sensei," I said, bowing my head respectively.

He smiled. "Of course, Lavinia. No training today!"

I blinked, staring in surprise. The boy looked at each other, grinning gleefully.

"Unless Michelangelo throws that balloon."

We all whipped our heads around. Mikey was standing there, a water balloon held in his hand. He saw us looking at him and giggled nervously.

"You are so gonna _get_ _it_!" Raph yelled.

Without another word all three of the older boys charged at their little brother, wrestling him to the ground. I giggled at their harmful play.

"Lavinia," Sensei spoke softly. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Oh! Uh, sure."

Sensei nodded, and turned as he headed for the dojo. I glanced back at my bros, smiled, and followed my sensei to the dojo.

As I entered I noticed something different. There was a small tray near the tree, and it appeared to have two small cups and a kettle on it.

"I thought we could have some tea," Sensei said as he walked pass me.

Honestly, I wasn't sure how to respond. It had been a long time since I had had tea with my sensei. I watched as he sat down on one side of the tray. He looked up at me, and smiled. I smiled too, and soon walked over and sat on the other side of the tray.

"I can't remember the last time we had tea," I stated as Sensei grabbed the kettle.

"Yes," he nodded. "It has been quite a while since we've had conversation."

"Yeah. We haven't really talked in the last few weeks. It's mostly been… well, training."

Sensei said nothing as he poured tea into each of the small cups. I fiddled with my hands a bit until he set the kettle down.

"Thanks," I said.

We both took our cups at the same time and sipped from them.

"So, what was it you needed?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

But he didn't continue after that. I took another sip of my tea and waited for him to say something else, but he didn't.

"Sensei…?"

Finally, Sensei sighed.

"Lavinia, the night you fought the Shredder, after you returned home, I asked you if there was something you wanted to tell me…"

"I could see that something was troubling you, but you kept your silence. I respected that, and allowed you to come to terms with what was wrong. But now I must ask you again, is there something that you wish to tell me?"

I sat there, holding my cup of tea. Of course, I knew I had to tell Splinter about what had been bothering me. I wanted to tell him, I did! It just… it was difficult.

"Something I wanna tell you? Definitely. But… I don't know how to say it exactly."

Sensei nodded. "Take your time. I'm in to rush."

I nodded. "Okay… Well, it's just like Leo told you," I started. "We went to go take care of the mutagen bomb the Kraang had set up. We got there, but we ran into Bradford and Xever. We took care of both of them with no problem, but… Shredder showed up…"

I paused. Sensei gestured for me to go on.

"We weren't ready for him… I wasn't ready for him. But… that's not what got to me."

"Then what did?"

"Well…" I sighed. "I saw that he was about to attack Leo and Donnie, and… I went to protect them. It didn't last long and I was knocked down. But…" I gulped. "He had me pinned on the ground, he should've killed me. But- but…"

"Lavinia?"

I looked up at him seriously. "Sensei… he didn't do anything."

Sensei blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He yanked off my mask and stared at me, and…" I shook my head. "Sensei, the way he looked at me… it was like he had seen a ghost or something."

Sensei looked at me for a few moments. He appeared to be deep in thought, thinking everything over. I gripped my cup and took a few gulps from it. Sensei stroked his beard, keeping his eyes closed for a moment.

"This is very strange," he said, his voice low. "This is something very uncommon for the Shredder."

"So, what should I do?"

"For now, do nothing."

I blinked. "Sensei?"

"This is very strange, yes. But it does not seem to be a threat at the moment," he reached over with his free hand and held my shoulder. "I am not asking you to forget it. I am simply asking you to put it aside for now, and put your mind at ease."

I thought about that for a moment. _Maybe he's right, _I thought. _I mean, worrying about something that might be nothing won't get me anywhere._

"Okay, Sensei," I said. "I'll leave it be."

Sensei nodded, smiling at me as he rubbed my shoulder. He let go and went back to drinking his tea, and so did I. _Green tea is awesome._

"Ah! Nia!" I heard Mikey cry. "Help me! Help…!"

I turned my head to see Mikey run pass the entrance of the dojo, this older brothers following very closely behind. I laughed, and Sensei chuckled.

"It appears Michelangelo is in need of your assistance, daughter."

"Yeah, I better go save his shell again," I set my empty cup down. "Thanks for the tea and the talk, Sensei."

Sensei nodded. I stood up from my spot, bowed, and went for the exit. At the doorway however, I stopped.

"Sensei?"

I turned, and Sensei looked up at me.

"Would, um… would it be cool if we did this more often?" I asked. "I mean, we use to do it when I was little, right? I think it could nice to do it some more now."

Sensei smiled. "I think that is a wonderful idea, Lavinia."

I beamed at him.

"Nia!"

"I'm coming!"

Giving Sensei one last smile, I turned and started running after the boys.


	16. Mousers Attack!

**I think by now it is fair to say that I'm having too much fun writing this. That is all.**

* * *

Ch. 11  
Mousers Attack!

Training was a little bit simpler today. Sensei was having us go over and practice some katas. Why? Well… simply because, I suppose.

Sensei stood still by the tree, watching us silently. Me and the guys were all standing in a line, and we were all practicing our katas. Me, Mikey and Donnie were going reasonably slow so we could focus on getting the moves perfect. Raph, not surprisingly, was zooming right through his katas. Clearly he thought he had it down. Leo, however, was really getting into it and was going in super slow motion.

"What, are yah fighting a guy in slow motion?" Raph snapped as he watched his brother's movements.

"I suppose I could do it faster, _if _I ignored my form. Like _you_."

"Ignore _this _form!"

Raph suddenly turned around and charged at Leo. I sighed as I straightened up. _Can't they go one training session without fighting?_

"You want me to take this one?" I muttered to Sensei.

He shook his head, and advanced onto the two fighting brothers. _Oh well… _He reached forward with both of his hands and seized the two turtles by the pressure points in their necks. They both yelped, and I cringed. _Yikes! That spot hurts! _Splinter separated them both before releasing them, and they crumpled to the ground.

"Competition is an excellent motivator, but not when it turns you against each other," he said, and he waited until the two boys got up before continuing, "So now, you will spar two on two."

Leo grinned as he folded his arms. "Okay. I'll take Do-"

"_You _will take Raphael," Sensei said firmly. "You two must focus on working together, not competing with each other."

"Okay… So, me and Raph against Mikey and Donnie?" Leo chuckled. "Eh… isn't that a little unfair?"

I stared at Leo, confused. _What did he mean?_

"Wait! What're you trying to say?" Donnie asked in an accusing tone.

"Um, how can I put this gently?" Raph smirked. "We're _way_ better than you guys."

"That was _totally_ gentle, Raph," I said bluntly.

"It's cool, Nia," said Mikey. "Their only better at fighting."

Raph snorted. "Uh, that's what I meant."

Mikey blinked, then frowned. "Oh? Fine!"

The boys got into their positions, facing each other. I turned my head to look at Sensei.

"I have to play 'Fifth Wheel' again, don't I?"

Sensei said nothing, but nodded.

"Alright, then."

I walked over to a spot next to Sensei, and I sat down with my legs crossed. The boys all stared at each other before getting into positions at the same time. I took note of the confident smirks Leo and Raph wore, and the determined looks on Mikey's and Don's faces. There was a short pause…

"Hajime!"

The reaction was instant. Leo went at Mikey, Raph went at Donnie. And within seconds, both of the younger ninjas were knocked to the ground. Leo and Raph laughed, giving each other a high-three before swapping places. Just as the fallen boys had gotten back up they were smacked again; this time, Raph went for Mikey and Leo went for Donnie. The younger turtles fell down a second time, and this time they stayed down.

"Yame!"

I sighed. "Welp, I suppose it could've been worse," I stated as I stood up.

"Not likely," Donnie groaned, still laying the ground.

"You were right, Sensei," said Raph. "Working together is fun!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, when it works in _your_ favor."

"Exactly!"

I groaned. _Aw, geez…_

* * *

Needless to say, Donnie and Mikey were still sulking about being second best for the next few days. I don't blame them. It was a bit embarrassing. Yeah, Leo and Raph were great fighters, but so were Donnie and Mikey. They continued to show their disappointment as they both sat on the couch- Donnie on the actual cushion, Mikey laying upside-down.

"C'mon guys, chin up," I said as I sat near them on the couch. "It was just a little fight. There's no reason to get all bent outta shape."

"Eh, let 'em pout," said Raph, who was reading a comic just a few seats away. "They're just being sore losers."

"You're not helping," I said.

"Not trying to help."

I sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter who's better or who's worse. We all have important roles to play that makes this team function."

"Nia's right," said Leo, who had just walked in, holding a plate with a slice of pizza. "Look guys, Raph and I may be better fighters, but you're still an important part of this team."

I smiled at Leo as he sat down in front of the TV. At least he was making an effort to make his brothers feel better.

"Hm. As important as _you_ _two_?" Donnie asked, not sounding convinced.

Leo and Raph didn't answer and they looked at each other for a moment.

"Uhm…Very important," Leo said finally. "We shouldn't compare ourselves. It's like apples and oranges."

"Yeah, if apples were way better, which they are," Raph muttered.

"I personally like oranges," I said, frowning at him.

"So, the truth comes out," Donnie declared as Mikey slide off the couch and stood up.

"You guys think of us as some kind of… B Team!"

"Good one, Dr. Name-enstein," Raph smirked as he looked over his comic. "We'll call you the 'B Team'!"

"Thanks!" Mikey paused, then glared. "I mean… hey!"

"There's no shame in it," said Leo, and he gestured to the TV, which was playing 'Space Heroes'. "Look! They've got a B Team, too!"

"_We'll need back up," Captain Ryan turned to what looked like two background characters. "You two in the shirts! You're coming with us!"_

_The two characters saluted in agreement. Captain Ryan, Crankshaw, and the two others got beamed out of the ship and onto the planet. As soon as they did Ryan and Crankshaw leapt out of the way as their 'B Team' was blasted into smithereens._

"_Rodriguez! And… that other guy! They're __**gone**__!" exclaimed Crankshaw._

"_Well… that's why we bring them along," Ryan said plainly._

"Thanks a lot," Donnie said dully.

Leo chuckled. "The point is, they had an important function."

"Right. An important function," I stood up and walked over to Leo. "So, if Donnie and Mikey are 'The B Team', then what does that make me? 'The Lonely C'?"

"No way!" Raph said quickly. "Nia, you're a way better fighter than Mikey and Donnie!"

"Hey!" the said turtles said in unison.

"He's right, Nia," said Leo. "You've always been great fighter, and that's saying something, considering we all had two years of training before we met you."

I blinked. I hadn't expected all of that.

"Well… what does that make me then?"

"Easy!" Raph set down his comic. "Mikey and Donnie are the B Team, right? And me and Leo are… the A+ team. That makes you the A Team."

"Oh…" I paused. "Should I feel flattered that you think I'm that good? Or insulted that you still think I'm beneath you?"

"That depends on you," he said. "But, yah gotta admit, it does make sense. When's the last time you beat me one-on-one?"

"It's… been a while…"

Raph snorted.

"Oh, shut up!"

Raph rolled and went back to his comic. I rolled my eyes. _Well… being solo on the A Team is better than being the Lonely C, I guess…_

At that moment I heard the sound of the turnstile. I turned around to see April walking in, and she had a look of distress on her face.

"April," Donnie got up and ran up to her, and we followed him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I just got mugged by some Purple Dragons!" she said miserably. "They stole my phone!"

"Don't worry," said Leo. "We'll kick their butts for you!"

"Yeah, we'll teach those punks to mess with April O'Neil!" Raph said as he punched his fist into his palm.

April shook her head. "Guys, it's just a phone. I'll get another one."

"She's right, guys," I said. "A phone can be easily replaced. It's not worth it."

"C'mon," Donnie urged. "What's the point of being a ninja if you can't help your friends when they get robbed."

"April and Lavinia are right," we heard Splinter say. "It is best to let this go."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked. "Why shouldn't we get her phone back?"

"One cannot predict the consequences of battle," Sensei said as he approached us. "Every fight has the potential to stir a hornet's nest. A simple cell phone does not justify this risk."

"What risk?" Raph asked. "It's the _Purple Dragons_! Even Mikey and Donnie can beat them!"

"Hey!"

"Don't worry, Sensei," Leo told him. "We'll be careful."

And with that, they turned and hopped over the turnstile. I rolled my eyes as I looked at Sensei.

"Need me to make sure they don't get into trouble?"

"It would be greatly appreciated," Sensei sighed.

I grinned. "No prob!"

I gave him and April a casual salute, and ran after the others.

* * *

Of course, we remembered where the Purple Dragon's hideout was, so it was easy to track them down. Especially since they decided to take a break from mugging people and hang out at their hiding spot. By now we had learned all of their names, but I never bothered to remember them. The leader, Goatee, was sitting down not doing a thing. Mustache and Bulky appeared to be throwing knives at a picture on the wall. It took me only a moment to realize that it was a picture of a turtle, taken out of a magazine or something.

Mustache took out another knife and threw it at the calendar. It hit the picture dead-on.

"Right in the shell!" he jeered, and he turned towards his friend. "Let's see yah beat that!"

Bulky stood up and took the knife out of Mustache's hand.

"Watch and learn…"

With a flick of his wrist he threw the knife. The weapon missed the picture completely and it the wall above it instead. Mustache laughed as Bulky glared at him.

"That's it, no more bets!"

"C'mon! Your luck'll turn around."

Suddenly, and without Leo's call, Raph lunged forward and kicked Bulky so hard he flew back and hit the opposite wall. Goatee spat out his drink and spluttered.

"The turtles?!"

Raph glared. "Sup?"

One by one, me and the other three jumped down to join Raph.

"Get 'em!" Goatee shouted.

Mustache yelled as he lunged forward towards Mikey. Said turtle smirked as he brought out his nunchucks.

"Bring it-!"

"Comin' through!"

Raph seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and kicked Mustache out of the way. Mikey dropped his arms, glaring at his older brother.

I heard shuffling from behind me and I turned. Bulky was getting back up. I withdrew my tessen and held it out as he stared at be, then glared as he charged. _Wait for it… _At the last second I shifted to the right, and Bulky ran right past me. He skidded to a halt and turned. I grinned and made a 'come hither' motion with my tessen. Bulky ran up to me again, arms held out. I spun around and moved to the left to avoid collision. He was getting irritated now, and suddenly tried to grab me. I jumped up and over his head, landing behind him. Before he had time to move I kicked my foot out to the back of his knee, and he fell down. I kicked his other knee, and now he was on both of his knees. I jumped and did a front flip, landing in front of him. Before he could do more than gape at me I leapt up and brought my knee up at the same time. My kneepad collided with his chin, and he flew back and landed on the ground. I landed back on my feet and straightened out. I sheathed my tessen and blew my bangs out of my face as I grinned.

"Well, that was easy."

"Nice one, A Team!" I heard Raph shout.

I rolled my eyes. _Geez, not that. _I whipped my head around and saw Goatee and Donnie running at each other, ready to fight.

"I got it!"

Leo jumped down in front of Donnie and kicked Goatee away.

"Hey!" Donnie shouted, looking annoyed.

"Let's get outta here!" shouted Goatee.

He and Mustache started running away only to find their route blocked by Raph and Mikey. They whipped around to run the other way, but that path was blocked by Leo and Donnie.

"Looks like we got 'em," I said, folding my arms as I walked up to Raph.

"Right where we want 'em," he agreed, cracking his knuckles.

Leo grabbed Goatee and pushed him hard against the wall.

"You punks stole a phone from a friend of ours," he said. "We want it back!"

Goatee snorted. "Tch, whatever. We steal a lotta phones."

"Well, let's see 'em. Now!" Leo demanded.

Goatee glared a Leo for a moment, then groaned.

"Fine."

Leo released him. Goatee started walking and lead us to where they stashed all their stolen goods. There were cameras, laptops, speakers, a couple of iPods, a whole bunch of stuff. And yes, they did have a lot of phones.

"Hey, that looks like it," Donnie said, pointing at the pile.

I looked down to see April's familiar red iPhone resting on top of a stolen laptop.

"Problem solved, boys," I said as I knelt down and reached for it.

Suddenly, the ground beneath us began to shake. I lost my balance and fell back on my butt.

"Does anyone else feel that?" Mikey asked.

"I do!" I said as I staggered to my feet.

"What goin' on?" Bulky shouted.

Before anyone could answer the floor suddenly cracked and split open. I yelped and leapt back to avoid falling in. A second later a small, silver, robotic thing jumped out of the new hole in the ground. It was only about two feet tall and had razor-sharp jaws, and was glowing red. Not long after, more and more little robots started to arrive, all jumping out of the hole.

"What the heck?" Leo shouted.

The little robots leapt over to the pile of stolen electronics and snatched a few object into their sharp jaws. Then they leapt back into the hole, and at the same time more robots appeared and grabbed a few things.

"The bloody hell is going on?" I exclaimed.

Leo stiffened. "Wait! Where's…?"

He whipped his head around, and gasped. I turned to see Goatee sprinting up a flight of stairs. He waved his hand, which was holding April's phone. He laughed as he gave us a mock salute, and ran off.

"He's got the phone!" Leo shouted as he withdrew his katanas. "B Team, get 'im! We'll handle the metal!"

"Hey!" Donnie started. "We are-"

"Just _go_!" Leo snapped.

I saw Raph grin as he shouted, "And if you guys can't handle it, _don't _be ashamed to call for help," he turned, and I felt him grab my wrist. "C'mon, A Team!"

"Whoa!" I yelped as he pulled me away.

After a few moments Raph let go of my wrist and withdrew his sais. He threw one out, and it skewered one robot through its head, embedding it into the wall.

"More freaking robots trying to cause trouble," I said as I pulled out my kamas. "Why not?"

I looked down to see a robot running near my feet. I kicked it and it went flying out to the other side of the room. I ran forward and swung my blades down, slicing through two robots that were on either side of me. I felt something jump onto my back, and I knew it was a robot. I swung my right arm back just enough to stab the robot. I flung my arm out and the remains of the robot flew off.

I heard a loud, cat-like whirl, and I turned to see a few robots had hopped back into the hole. One of them was about to jump in when Leo stabbed its head, keeping the thing on the ground with his foot.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's see where these things are coming from."

"Sure thing, Chief," I said as I sheathed my kamas.

Both boys jumped into the hole, and I followed right behind them.

* * *

The tunnels that the robots must've made were huge! And super long. It felt like it went on for miles. There were a couple of times where we lost sight of the robots, but we caught up to them with no issues. Finally, after what felt like an hour, we saw the robots jump down the end of the tunnel.

"This must be the place," Leo said as we stood around the hole.

I leaned over and peered below. I could see several more little robots running around, all with stolen valuables in their jaws. From somewhere below I heard a low chuckle.

"Well done, my pretties!"

"Stockman?" I gasped.

"C'mon!" said Leo.

Without another word we all jumped through the hole and landed onto the floor below. I straightened up and looked around. Standing there, still wearing that ugly pink sweater, was…

"Dexter Spackmen!" Raph declared.

"It's _Baxter Stockman_!" Stockman corrected.

"I was close!"

"Not really," I muttered.

"So, you're here to stop me again!" said Stockman. "Well, you don't stand a chance against my _Mousers_!"

The robots chomped their jaws at us, and I stared down at them.

"Mousers?" Leo asked.

"Mobile Offensive Underground Search Excavation and Retrieval Sentries!" Stockman declared proudly.

I blinked. _Okay…_

"Seems a little forced," Leo stated simply.

I shook my head. "Nah. Its totally forced."

"Since my test robbery was so successful, it's time to move on to _bigger targets_!" Stockman grinned. "These are about to make me very, _very _rich."

"And we're gonna make _you_ very, _very _hurt!" Raph growled as he and Leo started to advance.

I was about to move forward as well when I stopped. I could see Stockman's hands itching for something that was in his pocket.

"Guys, wait-!"

Stockman suddenly pulled out a silver bottle and pressed down on the top. Thick, red spray shot out and hit the guys right in their faces.

"Protect your eyes!" Leo shouted.

The boys covered their faces as they started coughing. I quickly backed up to avoid the possibly toxic spray. But, something was wrong. I've gone into Donnie's lab dozens of times, and each time he was either building something or messing with chemicals. So, I knew that anything toxic gave off a strong sent. But… I couldn't smell anything.

"Wait… we're fine," said Raph.

Leo paused. "You're right…" he glared at Stockman. "Get 'im!"

"Get _me_? No, _you _will be the ones who will be getting got!" he frowned. "'Gotten'…? … Get them!"

Instantly the Mousers charged at us. I withdrew my kamas and quickly sliced through the nearest ones. Within a matter of seconds, me and the guys had sliced and diced all of the Mousers ones.

"Ha! All gone!" Raph jeered.

Stockman smirked. "Good thing I made extra."

Stockman pulled out a remote and pressed the large, red button on it. There was a loud ringing noise, and suddenly a large door next to us slid open. Inside were what looked like hundreds upon hundreds of tiny Mousers. I gulped.

"I don't feel too good about his guys," I said truthfully.

"They're two feet tall and they can't even hurt us," said Raph. "We'll be fine!"

_Bam!_ I turned to see two double doors burst open, and several large groups of Mousers piling through.

"You were saying?" I asked.

Raph didn't reply. Instead he and Leo crouched down, getting into their fighting stances. A second later we all leapt up and charged down at the wave of Mousers.

I crouched down and swung my arms out, smacking a few Mousers out of the way and slicing through others. One crawled onto my leg and nearly ripped off the holster that held my tessen. I stabbed it with one of my kama blades and threw it off.

"We're getting out numbered!" I yelled as I kicked one away from me.

"I'm calling it," Leo called to me and Raph. "Time to go!"

"I'll allow it!" said Raph.

"Me too!"

Leo started to sprint for the exit, and me and Raph followed. Another Mouser jumped onto my shoulder, and I knocked it off with the wooden end of my kama. Choosing not to look behind me and see the wave of Mousers chasing us, I continued forward as we ran into the outdoors.

* * *

By now we had resorted to running and jumping across the rooftops to avoid the Mousers. Leo was still leading us, but I was still just ahead of him. Personally, I didn't think the Mousers would be too much trouble, but I wanted to keep as much distance between us and them just in case.

After what felt like an hour of running we finally slid to a stop on the roof of an apartment building. I hunched over and grabbed onto my kneepads, panting.

"Yah think we lost 'em yet?" Leo asked.

I heard a loud whining sound. I looked over the ledge and saw a huge group of Mousers running across the street and stopping at the building we were at.

"I'd say 'no'," said Raph.

"Time to go!" I said.

We all turned and continued running before jumping to the next building, and we pressed on.

"How are those things tracking us?" Leo asked exasperatingly.

"It's gotta be that stuff he sprayed us with," said Raph.

"Makes sense," I said. "Most of the little buggers only attacked you guys and not me, 'cause I didn't get sprayed."

Leo shook his head. "Alright… we better call Donnie."

"You wanna get bailed out by the _B Team_?" Raph snapped. "Forget that!"

I groaned. _Jesus, not this again!_ I wanted to say some kind of retort to Raph, but Leo spoke before I could.

"Maybe we won't have to."

I followed his gaze and saw him staring at a tall water tower that was just ahead of us. We hopped over the building and skidded to a halt in front of the tower. Leo withdrew his katana.

"Whatever this stuff is, we'll just wash it off."

I quickly leapt back as Leo sliced a thick pipe that lead into the tower. Water started spewing out of the pipe and fell all over the two boys.

"Ah! Cold!" Raph yelped.

I giggled.

"That oughta do it-"

But Leo was cut off as a loud screech sounded behind us. I whipped my head around and saw a couple of Mousers crawling up over the ledge of the roof.

"Of course, we could call Donnie just to say 'hi'," said Raph.

* * *

"Of all the places we could've stayed until you called…"

"There was nowhere else to go!" said Leo.

I groaned as I looked over the edge of the water tower. It was the only place we could stay until we got some help from the others. Already there were several Mousers below, snapping their jaws up at us.

"Leo…" I warned.

"It's ringing."

There was a short pause. Then, sure enough, I could hear Donnie's voice on the other line.

"_I'm kind of in the middle of something…"_

"Yeah? Well, so are we," I mumbled.

"This bites," Raph groaned.

"_What's the matter?" _I heard Donnie ask._ "Oh! Don't tell me the A+ Team needs our help. Is Miss 'Solo A Team' not doing it for yah?"_

"Hey!"

"Shh!" said Leo, and he went back to Donnie, laughing nervously. "Uh… no! Haha! No, of course not! No, w-we're great! I was just, uh… you know, checking to see if you guys needed any help."

"Bull crap!" I hissed.

"_We got this. We followed Fong to the defunct futon factory on Fifth. Anyway, we got an awesome plan to get the phone back. How are you guys doing?"_

I turned my head to look at Leo, and saw a conflicted look on his face.

"Leo, I swear to God…"

Leo looked at me, then at the phone, and groaned.

"You know, good… ish."

I looked down below us and saw that there were many more Mousers than before. By now most of them had begun chomping on the wooden support beams.

"Oh, yeah," I said sarcastically, throwing my arms up. "We're just totally _peachy_!"

Leo looked down below to, and gasped.

"Woops! Call waiting! Gotta go!"

Leo quickly hung up the phone and put it away. I groaned.

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

Leo sighed. "You were right," he said to Raph. "We've gotta beat these things on our own if it kills us."

Me and Raph turned to stare at him.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Okay, bad choice of words."

There was a loud creaking sound, and the support beams finally gave way. The tower collapsed, bringing me and the boys with it.

* * *

"As fun as this is," I called to the other two. "I'd really rather not deal with these little buggers!"

A Mouser leapt up and made to attack my face, but I blocked it with my left kama, and stabbed it with the other.

"C'mon, Nia!" said Raph as he skewered another Mouser. "Try to have fun with it."

"Look guys!" called Leo. "Mouser kabobs!"

I turned my head to see Leo holding up his katanas, each one holding several Mousers. Despite my earlier comment, I laughed.

"Nice!"

Raph stabbed two Mousers with his sais and threw them over the edge of the roof. He turned around, panting slightly.

"These things are a cakewalk!"

"I can tell," I said bluntly.

Keeping a grip on my kamas, me and the guys jumped over the edge of the roof. I flipped down the fire escape and landed in the alley. The guys soon followed. A couple of Mousers joined us. One fell onto the concrete, and Raph stabbed it. Another dropped into a trashcan. The boys looked into the can as I turned around. There was a third Mouser right behind us, and it quickly leapt towards us.

"Whoa!"

I dropped down to avoid collision. I heard a loud _clang_, and I turned to see the guys had moved the trashcan, and the Mouser fell in. There was a loud whining sound and I turned my head to see another Mouser at the end of the alley. I took out a shuriken and threw it, and it hit the robot. But even as it went down several more appeared and started running towards us.

"Nia, move!"

I jumped back and turned. The trashcan now had its lid on and was laying on its side. Leo and Raph stood behind it, each having a leg on top of it. They waited for a moment before kicking it out. The can hit most of the Mousers, but a lot still remained standing. The little robots ran at us, and charged at them.

"Fun little things, aren't they?" I called to the boys as kicked a robot up and stabbed it as it came back down.

"I could do this all day!" Leo shouted.

Raph yelled. "Same here!"

I kicked, stomped, and sliced through a few more Mousers. I turned my head to see where Raph was heading. The Mousers were pushing him right into the middle of the road, and to my horror I saw the headlights of an oncoming truck.

"Raph!" me and Leo called.

Raph froze as he turned his head to stare at the truck. At once I leapt forward and pushed him to the other side of the street just as the truck passed by. We tumbled on the concrete a bit as we came to a stop. Panting, I pushed myself up and looked down at Raph as I sat back.

"You… okay?" I panted.

Raph nodded, panting as well. "Yeah…" he sat up. "That was… so fun…"

"Yeah," I staggered to my feet. "Totally fun."

I held my hand out to help him up. Raph grinned as he grabbed my hand, and I pulled him up.

"You guys okay?" Leo asked as he ran up to us.

Before we could answer, more Mousers came running out of the alley. I groaned.

"Bloody hell…!"

"It's almost too much fun," said Leo.

Without needing to say so, we turned and started sprinting away. _This is so stupid! _I yelled inside my head. _If we had just told Donnie what was up we might've been able to take care these stupid things!_

"I'm… so… tired!" I huffed, hunched over as we finally stopped running. "And I'm sick… of these stupid robots!"

"So am I," panted Leo. "This is crazy! Maybe we should call-"

"We can do this!" Raph urged breathlessly.

I rolled my eyes as I straightened up. "Then what do you propose we do?"

Raph didn't answer immediately. Still hunched over, he turned his head to look up at the street light.

"I got an idea!"

* * *

"This better work, Raph."

"Don't worry, it will," he told me.

I nodded as I looked down. We were all currently standing on top of the street lamp, waiting for the Mousers to arrive. Sure enough, a large group of them soon came around the corner of a building.

"Up here, metal-mouth!" Leo yelled, banging his katana against the light.

The Mousers screeched up at us. Several of them ran at the pole and started chomping down on the pole. Me and Leo turned to look at Raph, who nodded. I pulled out both of my kamas as both me and Leo jumped off of the light. The Mousers screeched up at us as we landed on top of them.

"Miss me!" I jeered as a Mouser shapped at me and I jumped away and landed on another one.

"Watch out, Nia!" I heard Leo yell.

I turned my head to see him standing on top of a fire hydrant. I leapt off the pile of Mousers and landed on the concrete. Leo jumped off the hydrant just as a Mouser latched its jaws onto the nozzle. A second later it yanked the nozzle off and water shot out and spread all over the street.

"Your move, Raph!" I called up to him.

Raph took out one of his sais and hopped off the street light. He used his sai to glide across the power cord and he jumped off, landing on the sidewalk next to me and Leo. Then the street light, whose metal had been chewed by the Mousers, creaked loudly before leaning forward, falling to the ground. The light bulb burst and electricity shot out through the water in the street, and electrocuted all of the Mousers. The electricity died out and the Mousers fell down.

"Huh… it did work," I said.

"'Course it did," Raph smirked at me, then looked at Leo. "Told yah we didn't need those guys…"

No sooner did he speak before there was a soft, distant screech. I whipped my head around. Done the street was a single, stinking Mouser. It made a loud screech, and many, many more appeared.

"Oh, come on!" Leo groaned.

We all turned and high-tailed it out of there, the Mousers all following behind us. I turned my head to look around, looking for a place to hide. Then, as we turned into an alley, I saw what appeared to be an old tool shed.

"There!" I yelled.

I ran forward and led the boys inside. They both slammed the doors shut. Raph helped me pick up a 2x4 and shove it through the door handles. Suddenly, we heard the Mousers slam against the doors from the outside. Leo and Raph leaned their backs against the doors, and I stood between them as I pushed my hands on the surface.

"Still think we don't need help from the _B Team_, Raph?" I asked angrily.

Raph stared at me for a moment, then he reared his head back and groaned.

"Okay, I admit it! I wish Donnie where here, I bet he could find a way to get these things off our tail!"

Before I could reply a Mouser burst its head through the door, just between Leo's legs. We all yelped.

"Make the call!" Raph yelled

Leo nodded and quickly pulled out his T-Phone. As he started dialing I took out one of my kamas and used the end to knock the Mouser back outside. But even as I did two more appeared behind the hole instead.

"Donnie's not answering!" Leo said suddenly.

"Try Mikey," I told him quickly.

Leo went back to his phone. Suddenly, a Mouser managed to shove its way through the hole in the door, and lunged itself at me. I yelped and fell back in surprise. The thing landed on my chest and screeched in my face. I groaned as I stabbed it with my kama and flung it off.

"Mikey's not answering either!" Leo said worriedly. "Something wrong!"

Raph shook his head. "I shoulda known they'd need us to bail them-"

_Bam!_ The doors finally burst open. Leo and Raph yelled as they flew forward, both landing on either side of me. The Mousers screeched and wined as they advanced on us.

"Where did Donnie say he followed the Purple Dragons?" I asked as I quickly got to my feet.

"The futon factory," Leo said as he started to back up.

"Then we better hurry up."

Leo turned and looked at me for a moment. Then he nodded.

"Let's go!" he ordered.

We followed him without complaints.

* * *

It took us less time to get to the futon factory than expected. Probably because we were still being chased by the damn Mousers. We were all standing on the rooftop, looking through the skylight. We could see everything and everyone in there. Dogpound was inside, so were the Purple Dragons, and another person that I couldn't see clearly at the moment. But the ones who got my attention where Donnie and Mikey. They where both chained to the wall, hanging by their wrists. _These dudes are _so _gonna pay!_

"You guys get the plan?" Leo asked.

"Let's just hurry up before those hunks of metal catch up to us!" Raph hissed.

Leo and Raph then resulted to bickering again. I rolled my eyes as I gazed down into the room. The phone was right beneath us, laying on a table next to a computer. I watched as Dogpound started to walk around the table and move towards where Donnie and Mikey were chained. Curiously, I pressed my ear flat against the glass and listened.

"While that's running, I got a few questions for yah," Dogpound folded his arms. "I'm only gonna ask this once; Where's the girl?"

"What girl?" Mikey asked.

"That white-haired kunoichi that's in league with you, obviously."

From behind the glass I heard Mikey give an irritated groan.

"Dude, it's not white. It's platinum blonde. There's a _huge _difference."

"What do you want with her?" Donnie asked, sounding angry.

"That's none of your business," Dogpound snapped. "It's only Shredder's."

I blinked in confusion. What did the Shredder want with me? Obviously, he wanted to kill me, along with my bros. But, what did he need me personally for?

"Sorry to disappoint your boss," Donnie growled. "But we're not saying a thing."

"Yeah!" said Mikey.

I grinned slightly at the guy's bravery. Then I heard Dogpound chuckled darkly.

"Fine by me," he said. "The phone might not be able to tell me where she is, but I can get the answer out of one you instead."

I pulled my face back and looked down to watch Dogpound walk back over to the table with the computer. _Oh _hell _no!_ I thought. _He did not just threaten my brothers like that!_

"Nia, focus," Leo hissed. He and Raph had stopped arguing.

"Right, sorry," I said quickly.

I sat back and straightened out, pulling both of my kamas out their sheathes.

"On my mark," Leo whispered to us. "Ready… Now!"

We all jumped at the same time, and burst through the glass, weapons in hand. We landed on the floor with no problems, and looked up to face Dogpound.

"The turtles? And the brat?" he growled.

"Not so fast, Dogpound!" Leo yelled. "And… Dexter Spackman?"

"_Baxter Stockman_!" Stockman yelled.

Dogpound growled as he leapt over the desk and charged at us. He made to swing at Leo, who leapt over him and ran forward. Dogpound turned to glare at him. Then Raph sprinted up to him, and just as the dog turned his head, Raph kicked him in the face.

I turned my head to see Leo slam his katana between April's phone and Stockman's hand. Leo reached forward and grabbed the phone. _Finally!_

"How did you escape my Mousers?" Stockman asked Leo.

"We didn't."

After he said this dozens of Mousers began to fall down from the hole in the skylight. They toppled over the heads of Dogpound and Stockman, distracting them. Me and the other two ran to Donnie and Mikey without hesitation. Leo raised his katanas and sliced through the chains holding his younger brothers.

"Guys!" I said as I stood in front of them. "Are you okay?"

"Chill, Nia, we're fine," Mikey said, grinning slightly.

I nodded. "Good."

"We're here to save the day, as usual," Raph gloated.

"Oh yeah," Donnie said sarcastically. "Looks like you guys are doing great."

Raph glared and snapped, "_You_ try fighting off 2,000 robots!"

"Speaking of which," I turned around. "We might wanna take care 'em!"

Donnie and Mikey withdrew their weapons, and we all began attacking the charging Mousers. I stabbed at the ones by my feet and sliced through the ones that jumped at me. One tried to jump at my face, but I stabbed it and threw it back.

Then there was a loud growl. I turned my head to see Dogpound, a furious look on his large face, was now running at Leo.

"Mikey!" Leo yelled. "Keep away!"

And he threw the phone. Mikey yelped as he jumped back and caught the phone in his hand as he fell to the ground. Dogpound changed courses, and began running after Mikey instead. Mikey jumped over the mutant dog and ran up the flight of stairs, screaming with misfortune.

"Donnie, what's the deal?" I asked as I sliced through two more Mousers. "Why does Dogpound want April's phone?"

"It's not the phone, it's what's on it!" Donnie grunted as he swung his staff and hit a couple of robots. "They're trying to hack into the GPS log. If they get in they'll know every place that the phone's ever been! Including the lair!"

"That's enough motivation for me!" I called.

I yelled as kicked a nearby Mouser far away. From the corner of my eye I saw Donnie kneel down and reach for the remains of a sliced Mouser. He picked something out of the metal skull and examined it.

"Wow! A gamma camera!" he exclaimed. "It detects radioisotopes! That must be what he's tagged you with!"

"Oh! How do we get it off?" Raph yelled.

"You can't," said Donnie. "It wears off gradually. But if someone else got sprayed they'd give off a stronger signal."

There was a yell, and I turned to see Mikey fall from the upper level. Dogpound jumped and landed right behind him. He lifted his large paws and prepared to strike. But Donnie jumped forward and whacked his face with his Bo staff. He leapt back to stand next to Mikey. Having a bad feeling about this, I shoved my kamas into their sheaths and ran forward.

"We have to get Stockman's spray," I heard Donnie tell Mikey. "It controls the Mousers."

"You mean that thing?" Mikey asked, pointing.

"I'll handle this, dog-man," said Stockman, holding up his silver bottle. "One spritz, and they're Mouser chow-"

"No!" I yelled.

In one fluid movement, I took out my tessen, opened it, and flung it across the room. Stockman barley had any time to move before my weapon embedded itself into the bottle. Red spray oozed out in great quantity, coating both Stockman and Dogpound. From the side, I saw all the Mousers that had been advancing on Leo and Raph pause, turn, then start advancing on Stockman and Dogpound.

"Yes!" I cheered.

The Mousers showed no mercy as they charged at Stockman and the mutant dog. Dogpound yelled as he turned and started to run off. Stockman tripped over the sliced remains of a Mouser, and Dogpound picked him up. The dog turned around, and spotted April's phone on the floor. Before I could move he grabbed it and picked it up, chuckling. Suddenly, a small knife flew by and hit the phone, sending it flying until it hit the opposite wall and shattered into pieces.

"Hang it up, Dogpound!" called Donnie. "Your call just got dropped!"

Another wave of Mousers charged forward, intent on attacking Dogpound and Stockman. Dogpound turned and ran, sprinting forward and busting through the wall. The Mousers continued to run after them until they were all out of sight.

"Here, Nia."

I turned to see Mikey holding my tessen up for me.

"Thanks, dude," I said, smiling as I took it back.

Me and the guys all walked over to the giant, Dogpound-sized hole in the wall, staring off to where said mutant had gone.

"Nice job, guys," Leo said to his younger brothers.

"Yeah!" Raph threw his arms around Donnie's and Mikey's shoulders. "From here on out… you're the _A- Team_!"

"That's probably the best we're gonna get out of 'im," Donnie said plainly, but grinning all the same.

"Hey, at least we're all A's," I said cheerfully.

Raph suddenly pulled Mikey into a head lock as he began leading him away, giving him a noogie.

"Ow! OW!"

Leo and Donnie put their arms around the other's shoulders as they began walking away. I sighed as I put both of my hands behind my head and followed them.

* * *

For the first time in a while we came home to a happier environment. Leo and Donnie were having fun playing with the pinball machine, Raph was sitting calmly while feeding Spike, and I was sitting near the latter while playing my guitar. Angus had given me some sheet music of some of his favorite songs last time I saw him, and I had been practicing.

From behind me, I heard music start to play from the large speaker. I turned around to see Mikey standing there, bobbing his head with the music. Then he stepped onto the flattened cardboard box and started break dancing all over it. I laughed as I watched him dancing like he was having the time of his life. He ended his 'routine' with a small backflip. He folded his arms, turned his head towards me, and winked.

"Sweet moves," I commented, grinning.

"Why, thank yah, dudette," he said, bowing.

I laughed. Then from the corner of my eye I saw Sensei walk into the room.

"I hope you all see that by choosing your battles poorly, you created your own crisis."

Donnie, who was leaning on the pinball machine, shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, there's definitely some irony in there…"

"Okay, it got a little out of control," said Leo. "But, we learned our lesson. And, at least we got April's phone back."

"You did?" April suddenly burst into the room. "Sweet!"

Donnie held out his hand and opened it up. Nothing but the shattered remains of April's phone laid in his palm.

"Uh… the important thing is, it didn't end up in the wrong hands," Leo said quickly.

April sighed. "Gee… thanks, guys."

"Aw, no worry, April," Donnie reached behind him and pulled out an extra T-Phone. "You can have one of my custom built T-Phones."

"Oh, cool!" she said, beaming as she took the phone from his hand.

"Just don't say 'T-Phone, self-destruct'," Mikey told her.

The second he said this the T-Phone suddenly exploded slightly, sizzled, and died, smoke issuing from it.

"Or else that happens…" Mikey finished nervously.

"Nice going, Mikey," Raph called out. "Minus two for the A- Team."

Mikey turned to frown at him. "Hey, not cool, dude."

"Yes it is!"

Raph laughed as Mikey glared at him. I groaned. _Seriously?_

"Alright! That's it!"

I set down my guitar and stood up from my seat.

"What?" Raph asked.

"Family meeting!" I shouted. "All turtles in the pit! Now!"

Leo, Donnie, and Mikey and turned to look at each other, looking surprise. In fact, they looked like they didn't know what to do. I don't blame them. It's not everyday that I burst out like this. After a split second however, all three boys quickly ran over and jumped into the pit. I looked down at Raph.

"Up," I told him.

Raph set down the large leaf he was feeding Spike and stood up, setting his pet onto his shoulder. I frowned at them all as I folded my arms.

"Right," I started. "Listen to me, all of you. I don't care if you're joking or not, I've had just about enough of this A Team, B Team bull crap!"

Leo blinked and I thought I saw Donnie gulp.

"I mean, think about what we've been through _tonight_ just because you let that get to you. You're not gonna let something stupid like that happen again, are you?"

"No!"

"Of course not!"

"Then why am I still hearing about it?"

The boys didn't have an answer to this. They all looked at me for a few seconds before they hung their heads, looking shameful. Even Raph looked disappointed in himself. I sighed, loosening my arms but not dropping them.

"Look," I began. "If you guys keep doing stuff like this it's only gonna tear us apart. Look at tonight; without each other, none of us stood a chance. But you guys were being to damn prideful to see it!"

Still, the boys said nothing. I unfolded my arms and took a step closer towards them.

"We're a family," I said breathlessly. "We're a team. You guys are suppose to be brothers, no matter what. Yes, you're all different. Yes, there are some things about each of you that make you nothing alike. But… that's a good thing! It's good that you're different! Each of you as role that helps make this team function."

At last, the boys finally glanced up at me. I looked at each of them, thinking of what to say next. Then, I looked over at Leo.

"Leo," I started, and he straightened up. "You… You're the Leader. You always have a plan set for us. Who goes where, who does what, and who goes with who. You always make sure that there's a way for us all to get out alive, because that's one of the most important things about being a leader; to make sure everyone comes home alive. You always have to make the right choices… and you're the only one who can," I ginned at him. "Leo… you're our leader because you _are_ a leader."

Leo stared at me, blinking several times. He seemed a lost for words. A second later he grinned at me. I smiled back. I looked around at the other three.

"Raph…"

Raph folded his arms and didn't look up at me.

"You're the Muscle of the group," I said. "You deliver more punches than you take. You always try to be the biggest and strongest… and I think it's because you think you have to be tough for the rest of us. On the battlefield you always give it your all. Maybe it's because you like the thrill, maybe it's because you think it's right, or maybe it's both. You always do everything in your power to help us and yourself, and that alone makes you strong."

Raph looked up at me, looking surprised. Then, his face lifted into a small grin. _So far so good…_

"Donnie…"

Donnie snapped his head up to look at me.

"Donnie, you're the Brain," I said. "You have more intelligence than all of us combined. You can come up with over a billion different solutions for over a billion different problems. You work so hard to learn so much so that you can help us be prepared for everything. You come up with so many theories- so many ideas- and many of them could mean the difference between victory and defeat. And… your inventions help us more than you believe. Who built the Patrol Buggy? Who built the T-Phones? Who helped fix the electricity so that we could have heat and light? Where would we be if it wasn't for you?"

Donnie folded his arms behind his back as he ducked his head slightly, his green cheeks going very pink. But as he glanced up at me he smiled. I smiled, giving him a small nod.

"Mikey."

Mikey took a small step forward, his big, baby blue eyes gazing cutely up at me.

"Buddy, you're the Wild One," I said simply. "You have more raw talent than the rest of us put together. You're always willing to take incredible risks- mostly 'cause you're a bit cocky- and they always help us in the end. There's no one who's more willing to do what he has to than you, as long as you're able to put your own special touch to it."

Mikey was practically beaming by now, his signature smile plastered on his face. I smiled back at him before looking at the others.

"None of you are beneath each other, and none of you are above each other," I said. "We're a team, and you need to remember that. No more of this A Team, B Team stuff. 'Kay?"

The boys all turned their heads to look at each other. Then they all looked at me, grinning, and nodded.

"We understand," said Leo.

"Yeah, don't worry, Nia," added Donnie.

"We'll behave ourselves," Raph told me.

"We won't do it again," Mikey blinked his blue eyes up at me. "Promise."

I nodded. "Good."

I placed my hands into my pockets as I turned away from them. I walked over and picked up my guitar, swinging it over my shoulder. I glanced back over and saw the boys where in a small huddle, whispering to each other. I rolled my eyes as I stepped out of the pit and began to walk towards my room. On the way I stopped to look at Sensei, who was smiling at me.

"What d'yah reckon?" I asked. "Think I talked some sense into them?"

Sensei smiled more. "I think you are incredibly wise, my daughter," he said. "And I think you care too much about your brothers to not tell them the truth."

I smiled. "Yeah, I think so too."

Sensei gave me a small nod. I nodded back and started to head for my room again.

"Nia," Leo called to me.

I stopped walking and turned. The boys had broken their huddle and were now all looking at me. Curious, I walked back over to them, standing outside the pit.

"Yeah?"

"If everything you said was true," Leo began. "And I know it is, you're saying we all have our own roles to play as a team."

I nodded.

"Well… what do you think your role is?"

Now that made me think. I glanced down as I bit my bottom lip- a habit I've had since I was little.

"That," I said. "Is for you guys to decide."

I grinned slightly at them before starting to turn away.

"But, we already know," I heard Donnie say.

I stopped again. I slowly turned around to look at them, and saw all their faces shared the same grin. All I could say was a simple, "Oh?"

"You talk about all the stuff that we do," said Leo. "But you never give yourself any credit. Nia, you give this team your all everyday."

"You're just as strong and skilled as any of us, and sometimes more so," Donnie added.

"You've never let us down," said Raph.

"And you're a totally awesome sis!" Mikey piped.

I giggled at this. I thought I saw Raph shift around slightly, but I ignored him.

"And you're always their to help us," Leo continued. "Both on the battlefield, and at home."

I blinked. "What?"

"C'mon, Nia, don't be stupid," Raph said, smirking. "Who's always stopping me from pummeling Mikey to a pulp? Who keeps me and Leo from fighting 24/7? Who's always keeping Donnie from blowing himself up every time he tries to invent something?"

"Who's always making me laugh because she pretends that being a nerd is awesome?" Donnie asked, grinning.

"I was never pretending," I said honestly, grinning at him.

"Who's sweet as candy and always plays video games with me?" Mikey smiled at me. "And always plays awesome music for me?"

By now I could feel my face start to heat up. The guys were being so sweet it was unbelievable! Don't get me wrong, they could all be a bunch of sweethearts when they want to be. Even Raph! It was still surprising that they were springing this all on me right now, but at the same time I actually liked it.

Leo took a few steps towards me, and I could tell by the smile on his face that he had something good to say.

"Who's got the biggest heart in the world and loves us with every fiber of her being?" he smiled more. "Nia, don't you know what you are to us? To this team?"

There were a number of things I could be. A fighting buddy, a best friend, a sister… But I had a feeling that none of those where on Leo's mind. So, I gave a small shrug.

"No, please tell me."

"Isn't it obvious?" Donnie asked.

I shook my head. Mikey walked over and sat on the couch, facing me. His blue eyes gazed up at me as he gave me his cutest smile.

"You're the Angel, Nia," he said softly. "You're _our _Angel."

I don't think I've ever beamed more brightly at my brothers than I did right then.

* * *

**Shredder's P.O.V.**

I should have known that Bradford would come with disappointing news. That's all he's ever given since he first encountered the turtles and the...

I clenched my fist angrily. That girl. That stupid, puny little girl has been haunting my mind since I saw her face. I hated her for that, but at the same time I couldn't blame myself. She looked exactly like... No, don't even think about it. Not yet.

I cleared my mind of this thought as the door to the chamber opened. It was Bradford, and he was not alone. He was carrying a small man in his large hand. Bradford stomped forward and the man started struggling.

"Ow- Hey! Let go!" he demanded, wining like a child.

Bradford ignored the man's protests. He didn't stop until he was in front of me, and he threw the man on the floor by my feet.

"Here he is, Master," said Bradford.

_Ah, so _this _is the one who made things difficult tonight. _I stood from my throne as stepped down the flight of stairs beneath it. The man straightened up, his back facing me. He turned around once I stood before him though.

"Baxter Stockman," I said lowly. "Your interference has cost me Splinter and _all _of his disciples."

I reached forward and grabbed Stockman by the collar of his sweater. He yelped as I lifted him up into the air. I raised my other hand and the blade shot out from my gauntlet. He turned his face away, whimpering. God, what a pathetic, little man.

"You should pay with your _life_!" I growled in anger. "Fortunately for _you_, I may have use for your skills."

I retracted the blade back into my gauntlet and dropped him. Stockman yelped again as he fell into a heap on the floor. He turned to look at Bradford, who growled and clenched his fists. Stockman turned back to me.

"Um... b-but what could I p-possibly have to offer y-you?" he stammered.

I glared at him.

"Xever!"

At once, Xever appeared beneath the glass floor, floating in the water. Stockman gasped, staring at the mutant fish.

"As you can see, Xever has been mutated in a way that leaves him useless to me," I told Stockman, who was still staring at Xever. "Bradford says you can build anything. Do you think you can do something to make him walk again?"

Stockman backed away from Xever, clutching to his chest. Stockman straightened his glasses and looked up at me.

"W-well... with the right equipment I could probably come up with something..."

"Good," I said. "I trust you won't disappoint me."

"Oh, n-no, no!" Stockman laughed nervously as he crouched down slightly. "I-I would n-never! Um... anything else?"

I didn't respond immediately. _This is more important, _I told myself.

"How good are you with analyzing DNA?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm very skilled in that, too!" Stockman said, still sounding nervous. "All I need is a computer and I can analyze anybody's DNA!"

My eyes narrowed. "Good."

I reached down into my pocket and grabbed the object inside. I pulled it out and held it up. It was nothing more than a black string tied to the clock part of a wristwatch. It was the necklace that the girl had been wearing the first time I encountered her and the turtles. The glass was cracked and the hands had stopped moving, but that did not matter. I didn't need it for time.

I tossed the watch out and Stockman caught it. He held it in his hands and examined it.

"Um... this watch is broken."

"I know it's broken!" I snapped, and Stockman flinched. "It's also the same watch that the girl was wearing when I fought her and the turtles. I need you to analyze any of her DNA that is on there. Can you do that?"

Stockman gripped the necklace tightly and nodded quickly.

"O-of course I can!"

"Afterwords," I said sharply. "I need you to find out if her DNA is similar to anyone else's."

"Of course!" Stockman shifted a bit. "But... what exactly am I looking for? M-master..."

My fists clenched as I glared down at him, and he faltered under my gaze. It wasn't him that I was angry at, though.

"I need you to find out... if that girl is related to a woman named Angelina Carnell."


	17. It Came From the Depths

**Hey guys! Wow, it's been a while since I've talked up here, huh? Well, the reason why is because there's been a change. In the previous chapter, the one labeled "Mousers Attack!", I've added an extra P.O.V. that I forgot to add before. I just typed it up and added it to the end of the chapter. So, if it's not too much trouble, I think it would be super freaking awesome if you guys could go back and read the last P.O.V. that I added in. Kay? Okay. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ch. 12  
It Came From the Depths

It was nice to have a casual day after all that's happened in the past few weeks. The others would definitely agree. Donnie was on the couch messing with his laptop, Raph was playing the arcade game, Leo was flipping through the channels on the TV, and I was sitting on the edge of the pit while texting Vanessa.

"**You and Angus were awesome last night, girl!"**

"**Thanks. It's so fun playing music with him."**

"**Yeah! You both should be in a band or something."**

I laughed as I sent her a smiley face.

"**Yeah, sure…"**

"**I'm serious! You both play, you both sing, you're good to go!"**

"**I don't think so."**

"**Come on! Just think about it! Angus Carnell and Lavinia… what did you say your last name was again?"**

I was just texting a reply when I notice Mikey coming out of the kitchen. I looked up from my phone to watch as he stood among us.

"Who wants to try my latest creation?" he said loudly. "We all love pizza, we all love milkshakes, so I combined them!"

I cringed as I crinkled my nose. _Not again, _I thought. I saw Donnie look up form his laptop to stare at his brother.

"Okay, that could _not_ be less appetizing," he said.

Mikey grinned as he pulled his hand out from behind him. He was grasping a large glass filled with a mixture of blended red and orange slug.

"I call it a P-shake!"

I groaned in disgust as I turned my head away. Donnie looked like he was about to straight up vomit because he turned his head away as he covered his mouth with both hands, his face looking a little greener than usual.

"I stand corrected…" he moaned.

"I think you went too far this time, Mikey," I told him seriously. "I mean, I love pizza, but not _that_ much."

Mikey shook his head. "You guys just have no sense of adventure."

And with that he tipped the glass into his mouth and drank some. A second later his eyes widened and he spat it back into the glass. Me and the other three all groaned in disgust.

"Where did I go wrong?" Mikey asked sadly.

He paused…

"Mikey, don't-"

But he ignored me and started chugging the drink. The others all groaned again.

"Mikey, that's disgusting!" I told him.

"Don't care!"

He continued chugging, and I swear I threw up in my mouth a little. Leo shuddered as he flipped the TV to the next channel. Sure enough, he found the show he was looking for; 'Space Heroes'.

"_In all my travels, I've never seen anything as cute as these Strumpets," said Captain Ryan. "But I'll be darned if they're not the most annoying species in the cosmos!"_

_The 'Strumpets' were cute, little balls of pink fluff that had tiny blue mouths that looked like the bell of a trumpet. They were insanely cute. They were also making very loud, very annoying noises, which caused everyone on the ship to cover their ears._

"_Captain, we've got to find a humane way to get rid of them!" said Cranshaw._

"_If there's one thing I'm known for, it's my humanity."_

_Ryan sat in this throne-like chair and buckled himself in._

"_Open the airlock!"_

_Cranshaw pulls a leaver, which opens the airlock. The cute little Strumpets are sucked away to an unknown fate. Ryan smirks._

I turn my head away from the screen to look at Leo, who's is still looking at the TV, beaming with obvious fanboy joy.

"You have to be the only person in the world who likes this show," said Raph.

Leo shook his head. "No way! There are millions of Spaceniks out there!"

I couldn't help but snort at that.

"Spaceniks?" I giggled. "Is that what the fanboys are calling themselves?"

Leo frowned at me, his cheeks slightly pink. Raph smirked at me before snatching the remote from his brother's grasp and changing the channel. It was the news channel.

"_I'm Joan Grody," a news woman said. "With a Sewer Shocker! City workers attacked… by mutants?"_

"What?" I gasped as the others stared.

_An image of a frightened sewer worker with overalls appeared._

"_It was like part man, part reptile, a-and all monster! It came outta nowhere and attacked me!"_

At the same time, me, Leo, and Donnie all turned our heads to stare at Raph.

"Raphael," I said as I folded my arms. "Is there something you wanna share with the class?"

"Wasn't me!"

"_Take a look at this terrifying footage!"_

_The image switches to a video of the same sewer worker. He's pointing a night-vision camera at himself._

"_So, some people think the sewers are dark and scary. But actually, it's a lotta…"_

_But then his face fell and he turned around. There was a large, towering creature standing right behind him. It growled and lunged at the man, who screamed._

"_Ahh! Somebody help me!"_

_The video ended. The news woman came back up._

"_Are malicious mutants menacing Manhattan? Find out next on 'Goady to the Max'!"_

"I got a bad feeling about this," said Donnie.

I nodded. "You and me both."

"The last thing we want is some mutant causing trouble in the sewers," said Leo.

"Or some news crew down here looking for him," Raph added.

Leo stood up. "We've gotta track this guy down and stop him ourselves."

"Wait," Donnie grabbed the remote. "Let's rewind this. I think I saw a tunnel number…"

He pressed the button and started to rewind it back to the footage. After a moment he finally paused the TV.

"There! Tunnel 281!"

Leo nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Me and the guys knew the sewers like the back of our hands, so it was easy for us to find the right tunnel. The entrance itself was blocked with yellow police tap. So, what did we do? We went under it, of course.

"Anyone else feeling a bit creeped out 'cause of this?" I asked.

"Me," Mikey said, raising his hand.

For a few minutes we continued on in silence. Then suddenly, Leo stopped.

"Whoa, check this out."

He kneeled down to the ground. I leaned over to look over his shoulder and saw a giant footprint embedded in the ground.

"What the heck made these footprints?" Leo asked.

"Look," Donnie said as he pointed down the tunnel, where the footprints continued on.

Leo stood up and stared down the tunnel.

"C'mon."

For the next few minutes we continued down the path of footprints, again in silence. But it wasn't long before I heard something; growling. It was soft, but still there.

"Leo," I whispered. "I think I hear something."

Leo didn't respond immediately, but he looked around, obviously searching for the noise I was hearing.

"I don't hear anything," he whispered.

I frowned at him, but didn't respond. How could he not hear it?

We continued walking. The noise got louder and louder until it sounded like it was just around the corner. I was about to ask Leo if he could hear it this time when he stopped walking and held his arms out. We stopped walking and I didn't need to ask why. Lights started flashing down the tunnel, and several shadows appeared. Not only could I hear growling, but I could also hear the familiar sound of lasers being fired. _The Kraang…_

We ran forward and peeked around the corner. A second later Raph ducked his head to avoid the flying Kraang-droid head.

"Whoa…"

I looked forward and stared. Right there was a tall, raging mutant alligator. He was growling and roaring with rage as he tore up every droid within range. The droids tried firing their guns, but he lasers just bounced off of him. One droid jumped onto the creature's back, but the mutant just grabbed it and threw it off. He then grabbed a droid with his jaws, thrashed him around, and threw him away. The decapitated droid flew our way, and we moved as it slammed into the wall.

"I never thought I'd feel sorry for the Kraang," Donnie told us.

"Believe me, it's surprising for all of us," I said.

We looked back at the giant mutant to see a droid jab him with what looked like a taser. The alligator growled and fell to the ground.

"Tell Kraang in what place can be found the power cell that Kraang wishes to find the place of," a droid demanded.

The alligator lifted his head and roared in the droid's face.

"_Never!_"

At once several more droids hit the poor creatures with more tasers. The alligator roared in pain, thrashing his head before falling down, unconscious. Now I was starting to feel bad for the mutant. Mikey suddenly grabbed Raph's arm and tried to pull him forward.

"C'mon, we gotta help him!" he said.

Raph pulled his arm back. "I think 'gotta's' a strong word."

"Well, I'm with Mikey," I said, standing next to said turtle. "I mean, look at him! He needs help!"

"Nia, we don't know anything about that guy," Leo said seriously. "He could be _way_ more dangerous than the Kraang."

But Mikey wasn't having it.

"That gator dude needs our help. I can't wait around for you cowards!"

"Do you know what you're getting into?" Donnie asked his little brother.

Mikey didn't respond. Instead he turned and ran forward, whipping out his kusarigama chain.

"Booyakasha!"

The chain wrapped around one of the tasers a droid was holding. Mikey yanked it back and the taser went through the droid's skull.

"I guess that settles it," Raph pulled out his sais. "Let's go whack some piñatas!"

We all ran forward, withdrawing our weapons. I gripped my kamas tightly as a droid aimed its taser at me. I ducked left and swung my right kama so that it knocked the taser out of the droid's hands. I then used my other kama to stab the droid's head. It went down as two more came running at me. I spun around as I swung my kamas out. Both of them hit the droids in their chests. I yanked the blades out and kicked them both down. The aliens inside popped out and scrambled away.

I turned my head to see that the others had taken care of the rest. I saw one last alien run away from a fallen droid that Mikey was standing over.

"So what do we do now?" Donnie asked.

"We get outta here before more Kraang-droids show up," Leo told him.

I saw Mikey stiffen. He ran past us and kneeled beside the mutant, putting a hand on his huge head.

"We can't just leave him here!" he said seriously. "What if the Kraang find him?"

"He's right," I kneeled down beside Mikey, showing I was with him. "If more show up, God knows what they'll do to him."

"Well, what do you two wanna do?" Leo asked smartly. "Take him back to the lair?"

At once both me and Mikey gave Leo our puppy dog looks.

"Please?" I asked in a slightly higher voice.

"Oh, no…" Leo shook his head, deliberately avoiding _my _eyes. "Oh, no! Did-did you guys see what he did to those Kraang-droids? We are _not_ bringing that monster home with us!"

"He's not a monster!" Mikey retorted. "He's a… giant, Kraang crushing, mutant alligator monster!"

I face palmed. "Mikey…"

Mikey blinked, understanding what he had just said.

"I said monster, didn't I…?"

"Yep."

"Sure did."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, you know what I meant!"

"I thought you meant monster," Raph said simply.

"Me too."

"Yep."

Mikey frowned. "Fine! I'll bring him back myself!"

I blinked. "Uh, Mikey, I don't think this is a one man job."

Mikey ignored me and tried to drag the gator by his arm. I say 'tried' because he didn't manage to move him at all. He ran around him and tried pushing his back, but nothing happened. Then he grabbed the mutants snout and tried pulling.

"Oh boy…" I sighed.

Mikey finally hunched over, looking winded.

"Um, Donnie?" he asked. "You don't happen to have a forklift, do yah? …No? Okay…"

Mikey turned away from us and tried pulling some more. I sighed, then walked forward next to Mikey.

"I'll help yah, Mikey," I said.

I grabbed the same arm he was holding and started pulling with him. The mutant shifted, but not much progress was made. I heard Leo sigh. Then he and the other two came forward. They each grabbed a limb and we finally started to drag the big guy away.

* * *

"I can't believe we let you two talk us into this," Raph grumbled.

"Not my fault you guys are easy to bend," I said, smirking slightly. "Besides, Mikey never gives up until he gets what he wants."

He certainly did get what he wanted. We all had managed to get the mutant all the way to the lair. Now, I really wanted to help the guy, but I wasn't so sure about leaving him in the living room.

"Aww, look at him…!" Mikey grabbed a teddy bear and placed it by the gators head. "He's so peaceful!"

"That's because he's out cold," Leo said bluntly.

"Gotta admit, though," I said. "He's not so bad when he's sleeping."

At that moment Donnie came up, holding several long lengths of chains in his hands. He held the chains up as he cautiously walked towards the gator. Mikey noticed him and glared.

"Whoa, what're those for?" he asked angrily.

I sighed. "Here we go…"

"We can't keep him here unless he's chained to something really big," Donnie stated simply.

"That's so wrong!" Mikey said incredulously as he hugged the mutants head. "He's not gonna hurt us, we're the ones who saved him!"

The mutant then started to shift around. I looked down to see his large eyes open up.

"See?" Mikey whispered. "He's perfectly calm. I bet the first thing he's gonna do is thank-"

Suddenly, the mutant shot up, causing Mikey to fall back. The creature roared loudly, making us all jump. He grabbed the teddy bear and tore it in half.

"Or, maybe the second thing!" said Mikey.

The gator roared and lunged forward, grabbing Donnie by his head. Donnie dropped the chains and yelled as he was lifted into the air.

"Get him off me! Get him off me!" he screamed.

"I'll help you, Donnie!" Mikey yelled.

He picked up one of the chains and whirled it above his head. He flung it forward and it wrapped around Donnie's waist.

"Not like that! Not like that!" he yelled.

"Guys!" I warned.

But they all started pulling on the chains. The gator roared and lifted Donnie higher and started flinging him around. The other three, who were still holding the end of the chain, screamed as they were flung around too.

"Nia! Get the stun-gun!" Leo yelled.

I turned and sprinted into Donnie's lab. I looked around for a moment before running towards a busted file cabinet. I yanked open the middle drawer and saw the stun-gun laying inside. I grabbed it and ran back out of the lab. The gator was still causing chaos. Feeling like I would regret it later, I held the gun up and pulled the trigger. A bright blue laser shot out and hit the mutant. He roared loudly before collapsing onto the floor.

I sighed as I lowered my arm. I dropped the gun onto the couch as I ran over to the others.

"You guys okay?" I asked.

None of them responded, but Donnie did groan in pain.

"What is all this commotion?"

I froze and turned. Sensei was standing before us, looking stern.

"Sensei, Mikey and Nia made us bring a mutant back to the lair, and it _attacked _us!" Raph yelled.

I whipped my head around to glare at him.

"Obviously, he was freaked out, Raph!" I snapped. "Last time he was awake he was fighting the Kraang! How else would he react?"

"She's right!" Mikey stood up. "It needs our help!"

Raph wasn't convinced.

"It's a dangerous monster!"

"Raphael," Sensei said firmly. "There is no monster more dangerous than a lack of compassion."

At that moment the mutant stirred and growled lowly. Sensei stared.

"My mistake."

"We're doing to him what everyone else does to us," said Mikey. "Judging him by his looks!"

"And…" Donnie stood up slowly. "The fact that he had me BY THE FACE, MIKEY!"

"But he was fighting the Kraang, Master Splinter!" Mikey defended. "It's like you always say; the enemy of my enemy is my bro!"

Sensei stared at his youngest son, eyebrow raised.

"That is not _exactly _what I said… But what's this about the Kraang?"

"They were trying to force him to tell them where they could find some… _power cell_," said Leo.

"And he refused to tell?" Sensei asked slowly.

"Yeah!" Mikey piped up. "They were all like, '_zap zap zap!_' And he was all like, '_Roar! Never!_'"

Sensei turned to face me. "And you, Lavinia? You supported Michelangelo?"

I nodded. "Yes, sensei. I did."

"Hm, I see… You made a wise decision, Michelangelo. As did you, Lavinia."

"Huh?!" Leo stammered as he and the others all stared.

Sensei nodded. "Yes, I never thought I'd hear myself say that either."

I giggled at bit at that. Sensei then kneeled down in front of the gator and examined him closely.

"His scars run deep, but they protect a genuine heart," he said lowly, then he looked up. "When he awakens, Michelangelo, you must find a way to befriend him."

"No problemo," Mikey said, giving a thumbs up.

"Lavinia," Sensei said. "You'll stay here with your brother and assist in befriending our guest. Understand?"

I nodded. "Hai, Sensei."

"We need to learn what he knows about the Kraang," Sensei stood up and looked at the others. "In the meantime, you three try to find this power cell before the Kraang can."

"But, where still chaining him up, right?" Donnie asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Sensei said, tapping his head with his stick. "I am compassionate, not insane."

"Amen to that," I mumbled lowly.

* * *

"You're sure this'll soften him up, right?" I asked Mikey.

"Trust me, Nia!" Mikey said enthusiastically. "Nothing says 'friendship' like Pizza-noodle soup!"

I raised my brows as I leaned over to look into the pot, staring at the contents Mikey was mixing up.

"You're sure that's a good combination?" I asked uncertainly.

"Of course!"

Mikey suddenly whipped out the spoon full of soup and held it up to my face. I backed up slightly.

"C'mon, just try it!"

I blinked. "Mikey-"

"Please?"

I looked up to see he was giving me puppy dog eyes. _Oh, geez… _I stared into those baby blue eyes for a few moments before sighing in defeat.

"Alright…"

Mikey beamed and held the spoon up more. I looked down at it for a second. _Eh, what the hell? Can't be worse than a P-shake. _I leaned and ate the soup. I was surprised.

"Wow… this is actually really good," I said.

"See?" Mikey said. "Told yah!"

He smiled as he continued stirring his soup, humming a little tune. I rolled my eyes as I turned and walked out of the kitchen. I turned my head and saw the mutant gator. Both of his wrist were tightly and heavily chained up, and the ends of the chains were attached to the opposite wall behind him. I looked at his unconscious figure for a moment before slowly walking over to him. _Nothing left to do but wait, I guess._ I sat down a few feet away from him and brought my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

It was probably only a few minutes later that the mutant started to stir. _Here we go, _I thought confidently. The gator opened his eyes, and growled.

"Where am I…?"

He lifted his head, growling more angrily. Suddenly he sprang to his feet and I jumped.

"Mikey! He's awake!" I shouted.

The gator's eyes snapped down to me.

"You!" he shouted. "Let me out! Now!"

I gulped and shook my head. The gator roared more, pulling on the chains with all his might. I was afraid that they would break, but they held him down. Then, to my relief, I saw Mikey come out of the kitchen, holding the large pot of soup. He was also smiling.

"Well, look who's awake."

The gator roared as he reached for the young turtle.

"You! Set me free!" he demanded.

"Oh yeah, sorry about the chains," Mikey said apologetically. "The guys said we had to keep yah locked up or you might attack us."

"No offense!" I said quickly.

"Who are you?" the gator demanded. "What am I doing here?"

"I'm Michelangelo," Mikey said cheerfully, holding his hand out.

"And I'm Lavinia," I said, giving a small wave. "But my bros call me 'Nia'."

The gator glared at us before snapping his jaws angrily. _Well, that could've been worse greeting._

"Us and our brothers saved you from the Kraang," Mikey said, obviously hoping this would cheer him up.

The mutant growled before he suddenly reared his head back and roared loudly.

"_Kraang!"_

I flinched, covering my ears as he roared. _Geez, why are my ears so sensitive!? _The mutant yanked hard on the chains, trying to break free. But the chains didn't budge. The gator then fell onto his hands and knees, looking exhausted.

"Whoa, take it easy," I said calmly. "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you."

"She's right, dude," said Mikey. "You're safe. We brought you here so could get better. And nothing will heal yah faster than my world-famous Pizza-noodle soup!"

I raised my brows. "'World-famous' might be stretching it a bit," I whispered.

But Mikey just shrugged. He then took out the spoon full of soup and held it out to the gator. He looked at if for a moment as though he were hesitating. A second later he leaned forward and ate it. I saw Mikey turn his head away, looking like he was dreading the mutant's reaction. But to my surprise, the gator licked his teeth, looking satisfied.

"This is the best thing I've ever tasted," he said in a surprisingly calm growl of a voice.

Mikey opened his eyes and looked around, looking stunned.

"Really? Alright!" he fist pumped. "Someone else finally likes my cooking!"

With that he sat down with the pot in front of him. The gator straightened up and sat down, too. Mikey started feeding the soup to the gator, who ate it happily. I smiled as I sat down next to Mikey.

* * *

I was surprised and relieved at how nice the gator actually was. Once he was able to calm down and we had a chance to talk to him he was actually really nice. Heck, he was really pleasant! Even his deep, growling voice was calm and friendly.

"So, what's you're name anyway?" Mikey asked after a short while.

At this the gator hung his head, looking saddened.

"I do not have one…"

"What?" I gasped.

"You don't have a name?" Mikey stood up. "Ha! Well, today's your lucky day! 'Cause I'm a genius at naming stuff!"

I rolled my eyes. Typical Mikey. Said turtle scratched his chin, looking the mutant up and down.

"Hm, let's see…"

He started walking around the gator, poking and prodding at him. He even opened the big guy's jaws and looked inside.

"He's always like this," I said nonchalantly.

Mikey stood on his tiptoes as he rubbed the top of the gators head.

"You're head is kinda leathery… How 'bout Headleather? Heather…?"

I laughed, "That's a girl's name, Mikey. It's not even a unisex name."

"Oh, yeah…"

I snorted. Mikey stood there thinking for a few more moments before his eyes widened.

"No, wait! Leatherhead!" he said, and he stood in front of the gator. "Even better! Leatherhead!"

The gator sat up, smiling.

"Leatherhead it is. Thank you."

"No problemo," Mikey grinned as he folded his arms. "'S what I do."

"Very often, I might add," I said.

Leatherhead chuckled, and I smiled at him. Mikey sat back down next to me.

"So, I've been wantin' to ask you," Mikey leaned forward. "Why'd you go all crazy-eyes on our bother Donnie?"

Leatherhead sat up.

"You're brother?"

"Yeah," said Mikey. "Instead of shakin' his hand, you shook his face. And most of his body."

Leatherhead glanced at the ground, looking suddenly sad and horrified.

"You okay?" I asked him.

He didn't respond immediately, but closed his eyes. He breathed deeply before opening them.

"There are times when I loose control," he growled sadly. "When I awaken, I am horrified by what I have done. A monster like me _deserves _to be chained!"

I inhaled sharply, surprised by this.

"Oh, no," I scooted forward and placed my hand on his arm. "No, don't call yourself that. You're not a monster."

The gator hung his head.

"You're very kind," he said lowly. "But a monster is all I've ever been…"

"Or maybe you just think you're a monster because everyone treats you that way," Mikey said softly.

I turned my head to smile at my brother. It was moments like that that made me happy to know a person like Michelangelo. He always saw the best in people, even if they made terrible mistakes.

Leatherhead looked up at Mikey, staring for a few seconds.

"You are wise beyond your years," he said lowly.

"Yeah," Mikey grinned. "I get that a lot."

I rolled my eyes. _Oh, please…_

"And you," Leatherhead turned to look at me. "You are possibly the kindest person I've ever known."

I blinked up at him. I could feel my cheeks blushing slightly, but I still smiled up at him.

"Well, thank you," I said. "That's real sweet of you."

Leatherhead smiled down at me. _No matter what he's done, _I thought. _He's no monster._

"Hey Nia," said Mikey. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

I nodded. I patted Leatherhead's arm before standing up. Mikey stood up and beckoned me to follow him. We only walked a couple feet away so that we were almost in the pit. Mikey looked back at Leatherhead before looking up at me.

"Okay, listen," he whispered. "I'll get it if you say 'no', but I think we should take off the chains."

I looked at him for a moment. Then I looked over at Leatherhead, considering the action.

"Alright."

Mikey blinked.

"What?"

"I agree," I said as I smiled at my bro. "I think we should set him free."

Mikey blinked at me a few more times before beaming.

"You're awesome, dudette!"

He reached forward and hugged me tightly. I giggled as I patted his head. He let me go and we both walked over to Leatherhead.

"Alright, Leatherhead," I said. "Me and Mikey thought about it, and we've decided to take the chains off."

Leatherhead straightened up.

"But…why?" he asked.

"'Cause we trust yah, dude," said Mikey, cheerfully.

Leatherhead stared. "You…trust me?"

I walked up to his so that I was standing in front of him. I held both of my hands out to him, and after a moment he held his large hand out to me. I then grabbed the chains and started to undo them.

"We do," I said simply.

* * *

Leatherhead was exceptionally happier once he was chain free. He was pleased to be able to stretch his legs. Not surprisingly, he wanted some more of Mikey's pizza soup. So, he had followed Mikey to the kitchen so he could watch Mikey make the soup. I was currently sitting on the couch, listening to music on my T-Phone. I was just listening to "Centuries" by Fall Out Boy when suddenly the song stopped and the phone started buzzing. I looked at the picture that popped up. See, after I had started going out in public with Vanessa and Angus, I put pictures of something that reminded me of the guys in their contacts instead of their actual selves. That way if someone happens to be looking on my phone they wouldn't see a mutant turtle trying to call me.

I saw the picture of a black background with the words 'Keep Calm and Stay Badass' written on it. _Raph. _I clicked the answer button and lifted the phone.

"Hey, dude."

"_Hey. Good news. We found the power cell."_

"Really?" I asked. "Awesome. So, what is it exactly?"

"…_Kinda looks like a glowing crystal or something. Donnie says it's got enough juice to power up a whole city."_

"Wow… Was it easy to get?"

"_Yeah, no. The big guy had the whole place set with traps."_

"Anyone hurt?"

"_Does Donnie getting electrocuted by the power cell count?"_

I frowned. "Raph…"

"_I'm kiddin'! Anyways, we're on our way back and we're almost there. Just wanted to let yah know."  
_

"Aw, aren't you sweet?" I teased.

I heard Raph snort on the other line.

"_Oh yeah. I'm as sweet as lemons," he said sarcastically._

I giggled. "Whatever. Well, I'll see yah in few."

"_See yah."_

I hung up the phone.

"Mikey, the guys are almost here!" I shouted.

"Okay!" he shouted back.

For the next ten minutes I continued to sit on the couch and listen to my music. After a while Mikey came out of the kitchen, looking happy.

"Leatherhead alright?" I asked.

"Totally," he said. "He really loves my soup. The guys show up yet?"

"Not yet."

No sooner had I spoken then the water in the pool started to turn. I set my phone down and me and Mikey walked over to the pool just as the guys poked their heads out.

"Hey guys!" Mikey greeted. "Leatherhead is totally off the chain!"

"You mean you set him free!?" Raph asked, horrified as he and others jumped up out of the water.

"That's not he meant," I said quickly.

"Yeah," said Mikey. "'Off the chain' means he's cool."

The boys all sighed with relief.

"And that's why we set him free," Mikey finished cheerfully.

The boys gasped and turned their heads in the direction Mikey was facing. I turned my head and saw Leatherhead had come out of the kitchen. He was holding the large pot of soup in his hands and he was smiling at us.

"You guys let that maniac loose!?" Donnie hissed.

"Don't call him that!" I hissed back.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Donnie grinned sarcastically. "But maybe you forgot that he grabbed me _by the face_. So I'll remind you: he grabbed me… _BY THE FACE!_"

"Relax, you've been hurt worse since," Raph said, smirking.

"Guys, you shouldn't have unchained him!" Leo snapped. "What if he goes berserk?"

"Oh, Christ's sake!" I groaned.

I turned away from the boys and strode over to Leatherhead. He grinned down at me.

"Leatherhead, these are our brothers," I said, gesturing to them all. "They might wanna talk to you for a bit. Is that okay?"

Leatherhead nodded. "Of course."

I smiled, then turned to face the others.

"See? He's fine."

"Yeah, dudes. He's not gonna go berserk," Mikey walked over next to Leatherhead and placed a friendly hand on his snout. "He's totally mellow."

Raph folded his arms, not looking very convinced. Donnie stood far away, looking fearful. Leo straightened up, looking determined.

"Okay…" Leo slowly walked forward, chuckling nervously. "So, Leatherhead… about the Kraang…"

_Clang! _Leatherhead dropped the pot onto the floor. I gasped as I backed away. Leatherhead reared his head back and roared.

"_Kraang!"_

Leatherhead lashed out, swinging his arms out at us.

"Leatherhead, no!" I hollered as I grabbed his arm.

"Dude, chill! Chill!" Mikey yelled as he rubbed the gator's head.

Leatherhead went back down, falling to his knees. He breathed heavily as he calmed down.

"Shh, it's okay…" I soothed, rubbing his arm.

"What were you thinking?" Mikey hissed at his older brother.

"You said he was mellow!" Leo snapped.

"Dude, you said his trigger word!" I retorted.

"Yeah!" said Mikey. "We didn't know you were gonna ask him about the you-know-who!"

Leo frowned. "Okay, what should I do?"

"I don't know!" Mikey snapped. "How 'bout start with an icebreaker, like 'how was your day'?"

"Fine!" Leo took a deep breath before smiling nervously. "Um… Leatherhead. How was your day?"

"It started out awful," Leatherhead growled lowly.

"Yeah, you were attacked by the Kraang," said Mikey.

I gasped as, once again, Leatherhead roared.

"_Kraang!"_

"Mikey!" I snapped.

"My bad!"

At once Mikey ran up and jumped onto Leatherhead's head, trying to calm him down.

"Whoa, buddy!" he yelled. "Cleansing breaths, cleansing breaths! Cleansing breaths…"

Leatherhead fell down onto his stomach, panting from the exhaustion of his outburst. I ran up and kneeled down beside his head.

"Take a deep breath, buddy," I whispered, rubbing his head. "Stay calm. Breath…"

Leatherhead nodded slightly. Mikey slid down to kneel on the other side.

"You know you're in a safe place now, right?" he asked.

"Yes…" Leatherhead growled.

"Our brothers just wanna ask you a few questions," Mikey patted the gator's head. "Do you think you can handle that?"

Leatherhead breathed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Yes…"

"Okay," Mikey grinned as he turned to the others. "Now, what is it that you guys wanted to ask?"

The other three stood there, staring at us. Then both Leo and Raph turned to face Donnie. Donnie gulped, looking nervous. Then he stepped forward as he rummaged through his satchel.

"Okay… We-we just wanna know…what _this_ is."

Donnie then pulled an object out of the bag. It was large, glass container that held something that looking a pink, glowing crystal. It was the power cell.

From beside me I heard angry growling. I barley had time to glance down before Leatherhead lunged forward and grabbed Donnie's face.

"_Thief!"_

"Oh, come on!" Donnie wined.

Leatherhead raised Donnie in the air as he stood up, and he roared louder than ever.

"This is not my day!" Donnie said through muffled shouting.

"Leatherhead, stop!" I yelled.

But he just roared louder. Leo and Raph then pulled out their weapons and lunged at Leatherhead. But the gator just swung his large arm and threw Donnie at the boys, who went flying. This somehow caused the power cell container to be knocked down and roll on the ground. Leatherhead reached for it and Raph kicked him in his face. The power cell was knocked away and bounced against the wall.

Leatherhead turned and went after it. Then Raph jumped onto his back, jumped forward, and grabbed the power cell before the gator could. Leatherhead then rolled onto his back towards Raph. Raph was able to throw the power cell to Mikey before Leatherhead rolled on top of him. Me, Donnie, and Leo all ran forward and grabbed onto him.

"Leatherhead!" I yelled.

Leatherhead whipped his tail out and knocked me and the other two off of him. Then he started advancing on Donnie, snapping his large jaws at him. Donnie was pushed against the wall and Leatherhead growled.

"Leatherhead, relax! It's okay!" Mikey yelled.

Leatherhead turned his head to Mikey. He roared and snatched the power cell out of his hands.

"_Thief!"_

"No! Put that down!"

Leatherhead growled and threw Mikey off of him. Mikey fell and slammed against one of the turnstiles. He looked up as Leatherhead bared his teeth.

"Leatherhead, stop it! Please!" I pleaded.

He whipped his head around and snapped his jaws at me. I stepped back and tripped, falling onto my back. Leatherhead advanced on me, growling in my face.

"Stop!"

Leatherhead stopped growling and turned. I lifted my head to see Sensei standing in the pit, looking furious.

"Get away from my children!"

Leatherhead opened his jaws and roared. Sensei stood still, completely unfazed. Leatherhead then ran forward. Sensei stood his ground, eyes narrowed. When Leatherhead tried to crush Sensei with his fist, Sensei simply moved out of the way. The gator tried to whip him with his tail, but Sensei used that move against him and flipped him over. Leatherhead sprang to his feet and swung his arms back and forth, trying to his Splinter. Then when he went for another strike, Sensei dodged it and then grabbed the gator's finger and bent it back in a painful twist. Leatherhead roared and snapped his jaws several times, and Sensei dodged every time. Sensei twisted the gator's finger some more before rearing his arm back, causing the gator to flip back several feet. Leatherhead was up quickly, still growling.

"Leave this place!" Sensei ordered. "Out!"

Leatherhead growled at Splinter before snatching up the power cell and turning. I sat up as Leatherhead jumped the turnstile and ran off.

"Boys! Lavinia!" Sensei ran forward and kneeled in front of Raph. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Leo groaned as he sat up. "Yeah, where okay."

"Could be better, though," I said as I staggered to my feet.

"Where is Michelangelo?" Splinter asked.

I gasped.

"Nia, what's wrong?"

I ignored Donnie and sprinted forward. I leapt over the turnstiles and bolted. I knew exactly where Mikey was.

* * *

I breathed heavily as I ran through the subway tunnels. I heard Mikey before I saw him.

"Leatherhead? Leatherhead!"

I ran around the bend when I saw him. He was at least twenty feet away from me and getting farther away.

"Mikey!"

Mikey stopped and turned around.

"Nia!"

Mikey stood there and waited for me until I finally reached him. I took a second to catch my breath before speaking.

"Next time," I panted. "If you're planning on running off, take me with you. 'Kay?"

Mikey smiled, and nodded.

Me and him spent the next few minutes running through the tunnels, calling Leatherhead's name. Yes, I was worried about him and I wanted to find him. I know he attacked my brothers, but it wasn't his fault. Something inside him just snaps when certain things happen. I understand. Everyone has something that they can't handle, and it's not their fault.

After a while we skidded to a halt as we hit a dead end. It looked like a subway graveyard. Several subway carts were lined up while others where tipped over and leaning against one another. It looked like the scene of a crash sight, but without fire or smoke. Then, I heard something. Music.

"You hear that?" I asked.

Mikey nodded. We both walked up to the nearest subway cart and looked through the window in the door. Leatherhead was inside. There were several candles lining the walls and a little record player that was playing old music.

"C'mon," said Mikey.

Before I could say anything Mikey pulled the door open and walked in.

"Dude! Leatherhead!" he said as he turned the record player off. "What's the big idea man?"

"You two should not be here…" Leatherhead growled gently.

"Well, we are," I folded my arms. "And we want an explanation."

"We trusted you," Mikey said sadly. "Then you freak out and attack our entire family! I thought we were your friends!"

Leatherhead turned to face us, and a sad look was etched on his face.

"I warned both of you," he said. "That there is a dangerous force inside me that I cannot control. And that is why I must be alone..."

I shook my head. I took a few steps forward and placed a hand on his head, and he looked up at me.

"No one wants to be alone," I said gently. "And you certainly don't deserve to be alone."

Leatherhead sighed deeply as he lowered his eyes.

"Leatherhead!"

I whipped my head around in time to see Raph, Donnie, and Leo all suddenly dive through the door. All of them had their weapons out.

"Get away from Nia and Mikey," Raph demanded. "Or we'll turn you into the world's ugliest suitcase!"

"Raph, don't," I started.

"Please! I mean them no harm!" Leatherhead said desperately. "It was the _Kraang _who made me this way!"

The other three stared, lowering their weapons. I turned to look up at Leatherhead, who sighed before continuing:

"I was raised by a kind, human boy," he said lowly. "But then, his parents discovered me, and dumped me in the sewer…"

_A-holes, _I thought, bitterly.

"The Kraang found me and took me to their dimension. They mutated me, and subjected me to _horrible _experiments. But they could _not _break my spirit! 6 months ago, I escaped the portal that they use to travel to earth, and I stole _this_…"

Leatherhead reached behind him and pulled out the power cell. I glowed a bright pink light, lighting up the inside of the cart.

"What do they use it for?" Donnie asked.

"It powers the portal," said Leatherhead. "Without it, no Kraang can enter or leave this dimension. I swore to keep it from them, and spare this world from their evil… even at the cost of my own life."

None of us spoke. We just stood their, staring at Leatherhead in amazement.

Suddenly, I heard movement outside the cart. Before I could say anything the cart rattles and knocked us around.

"Give to Kraang the power cell that Kraang has come to demand that you give to Kraang!" a voice said from outside.

"It's the Kraang!" Mikey yelled.

"Quick! Barricade the doors!" Leo ordered.

Raph and Mikey ran forward and tried to pull the door shut, but it was jammed. Kraang-droids started piling in, trying to grab us. One grabbed my arm, and I pulled out my right kama and stabbed it in the head. I turned my head to see Leo slice apart a droid that was trying to take the power cell from Leatherhead. There was a loud _slam _as Raph and Mikey finally managed to shut the door.

Then there was silence. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. We all stood still, waiting. Suddenly, the blade of what looked like a chainsaw was shoved through the door. Another one was shoved through the roof, and another from the wall. Suddenly, the severed hand from a droid started crawling around, crawled up Donnie's arm, and grabbed his face. Donnie yelled and tried to pry the thing off. Something then tugged hard on my right ponytail, and I looked down to see another robotic hand grabbing it. I yelled before using my kama to stab it. I twitched for a moment before I flung it aside.

"We're surrounded!" said Raph.

"We'll never hold 'em off!" Mikey cried.

"We gotta get outta here!" said Leo. "Donnie, can you get this subway cart running?"

"This track is dead, there's no electricity!" said Donnie.

"What about the power cell?" Leo asked. "Can you use that?"

"I might be able to hook it up to the motor. But I'll need time!"

"I will buy you time," Leatherhead said as he stood up.

"What?" I said.

Leatherhead looked down at me and Mikey.

"My friends, you have trusted me, now I am you."

Leatherhead lifted his hand up and dropped the power cell into Mikey's palm.

"What about you?" I asked him.

"I will deal with the Kraang…"

With that, Leatherhead opened the door and charged out at the crowd of Kraang-droids.

"Mikey, the power cell," Donnie said urgently.

Mikey handed Donnie the power cell. Donnie used his nagnita blade to open the box.

"Donnie, we're running out of time!" Leo shouted as he tried to force the door to close.

"I'm working as fast as I can!" he snapped back.

I turned my head and saw a droid had opened the side doors. I ran forward and kicked the robot away and quickly shut the door. Several droids from outside banged against it, causing it to slide open. Raph ran forward and helped me keep the doors shut.

"Donnie, would you hurry up!" he yelled.

"I got it!"

I looked down as Donnie thrust the power cell into the motor box. The pink light shone brightly as a loud wiring sound started getting louder and louder.

"Oh no…" I whimpered.

Suddenly the cart shot forward, and we were all forced against the surface of the back of the cart. We all screamed as we went faster than we had ever gone in our lives. I could barley move, all I could so was scream, and the only solid things I could feel was the surface of the cart and Raph's hand, which was gripping my wrist tightly.

After what felt like an eternity, Donnie finally managed to pull the brakes. We all lurched forward as the cart started to slow down, soon enough coming to an abrupt halt.

We all slide down the cart wall and slummed into a heap on the floor. We were all panting after what we had just experienced. I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second. When I opened them, the boys were on their feet and Raph was kneeling over me.

"You okay, Nia?"

"Yeah," I breathed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Raph nodded. He grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet. I staggered a bit, but I kept my balance. We all walked over to the cart doors and opened them up.

"Where the heck are we?" Leo asked, looking around.

"By my calculations…" Donnie sniffed the air, and grimaced. "Sewage plant."

"Wow," Mikey breathed. "It's as beautiful as they say…"

* * *

After driving the cart back into the tunnels, we all went back home. None of us really spoke. Except for Mikey, who kept asking if Leatherhead would be alright.

"I'm pretty sure he handle himself, Mikey," I told him honestly. "Don't worry."

Mikey nodded, looking a little better.

When we actually got home we disbursed, as usual. I didn't watch where the others were going, but turned and headed for the kitchen. I was feeling rather thirsty. When I walked in I was surprised to see Master Splinter in there, sitting at the end of the table.

"Oh, hey Sensei," I said when I saw him.

"Hello, Lavinia," he said. "I trust the problem has been taken cared of?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Everything's fine now."

Sensei nodded. I walked around the table and walked over to the counter. _I guess it's been taken cared of. _I reached up and opened the cabinet where the cups where. _I hope that Leatherhead's okay, but I also hope that he doesn't go rogue. _I shook my head slightly. Leatherhead wouldn't do that. He only went berserk whenever someone even mentioned the Kraang. He actually said their name and he didn't go crazy. So that meant that he should be fine, right? Still, the image of him lashing out at my brothers was still clear in my mind. _He wouldn't have been able to lash out if you hadn't set him free, _a nasty voice said in the back of my head. _Your brothers could've gotten hurt 'cause of you!_

I lowered the cup under the faucet and turned the cold water on. Once the cup was filled I turned the water off. I turned around and started sipping from the cup. As I drank my eyes glanced over at Sensei. He was sitting perfectly still, looking at me with slightly stern eyes. I felt nervous as I lowered my cup.

"What?"

Sensei didn't respond. He then gestured to the seat next to him.

"Sit."

I paused, then walked over and sat in the chair next to him.

"Um… Did I do something wrong?" I asked nervously.

Sensei shook his head. "No, I do not believe so."

I sighed. "Phew…"

"But I have a feeling you do believe so," Sensei leaned forward slightly. "My daughter, I sense that something is troubling you. Do you wish to tell me?"

I glanced up at him, staring into his eyes. A moment later I glanced down at the surface of the table. I rubbed my finger along the edge of the cup, trying to find an answer.

"Yes," I said finally.

Sensei nodded, then made a small gesture with his hand, telling me to start.

"It's… it's about Leatherhead," I started. "Or… really, it's what I let him do, I guess… Me and Mikey did everything we could to get him to trust us. He did, and then he made us trust him. We thought everything would be fine if we let the chain off of him. And it was… for a bit. Then the guys showed up, one thing lead to another, and… Well, you can probably guess the rest."

I looked down at my cup, not feeling very thirsty anymore. From the corner of my eye I saw Sensei shift slightly.

"And…?" he asked lowly.

I sighed. "Sensei… if I hadn't agreed to let the chains off of him, Leatherhead might not have caused any trouble, and my brothers wouldn't have gotten hurt," I hung my head. "I feel awful saying that…"

Sensei didn't speak. Though I wasn't looking at him I could feel his eyes boring into my skull. I deliberately avoided his gaze as best I could and stared at my fidgeting hands on the table. Then, to my surprise, I saw Sensei's hands reach forward and grab both of my own. He pulled them closer to him and I kept my head down as I turned slightly in my chair.

"Listen to me, Lavinia," he said gently. "I understand your thoughts completely. It is natural for someone to have these thoughts after something bad happens to them and their loved ones. I, myself, have similar thoughts every time you and your brothers go out on a mission. …Lavinia, please look at me."

I gulped as I looked up to gaze into the eyes of my surrogate father.

"I know you believe that you made a mistake, but it is alright. You did what you thought was right. Your heart- which is full of nothing but kindness and compassion- was in the right place the whole time."

I let out a small huff of air as I glanced down.

"Or maybe I'm just too sweet for my own good," I mumbled.

To my surprise I felt Sensei's grip on my hands tighten slightly.

"Don't ever say that."

I looked up at him. "But, Sensei-"

"No, I don't want to hear that."

I gulped, feeling surprised and a bit nervous. Sensei held my hands gently as he leaned forward and looked deep into my eyes.

"Lavinia… you have more kindness in your little finger than what most people have in their whole body. That is not something to be ashamed of; it is something to be happy and proud of. I think anyone would be lucky to have half of the kindness that you show me and your brothers everyday. There is absolutely nothing wrong with how loving you are. I don't ever want to hear you or anyone else say otherwise. Do you understand me?"

I sat there staring at him, my jaw hanging open. I closed it and blinked a few times. After a moment though, I felt myself smile.

"I understand," I saw softly. "Thank you…father."

Sensei smiled at me. He let go of my hands and stood up from his seat. I glanced down at my hands and he walked around behind me. Just when I thought he was about to leave, I felt him put a hand on my shoulder and he kissed the top of my head. I could feel myself beaming as I looked up and watched him leave the kitchen. I sighed as I grabbed my cup.

"Good talk, Sensei," I whispered as I continued to drink my water.


	18. I, Monster

**Hey guys! I have a slight request to make of you all! See, I have a "Friend" who's new to this site. He just started writing a few months ago, and sadly, he hasn't gotten much attention as of yet. I've looked at his stuff and I think, for an amateur, he's actually good. He only had 3 stories so far and he's having a lot of fun writing them. So, please share your support by going and reading his stories. And make sure to give him a review, too. It'll really help him. His user name is "LeanerSmile796". Please go check him out, it'll really help him out. Thanks!**

* * *

Ch. 13  
I, Monster

Have you ever tried to attack a full grown, angry lion? Well, that's how I feel right now. Except, instead of a lion, we'll be trying to fight Master Splinter. …Yeah, no difference really.

"Okay, here's the plan," Leo whispered into our huddle. "Donnie, you're gonna strike first."

"No wait, you want _me _to come at _Splinter_?" Donnie hissed incredulously. "I'll get pummeled!"

"Well, getting pummeled is your specialty," said Raph, smirking as Donnie glared at him.

"Trust me. It's all part of my plan to catch Splinter off guard."

"Uh, Leo…" Mikey spoke up. "Don't take this the wrong way, but against Splinter, your plans always get our butts whipped."

Leo scowled down at his little brother.

"Okay, new thought: Mikey, _you _attack."

Mikey's face stayed neutral as he turned to look at me and Donnie.

"He took it the wrong way."

I shrugged. "Eh, you asked for it."

"Enough talk! Let's do this!" Raph said enthusiastically.

Leo gave a small nod. We all stood up and split from our huddle. Slowly and carefully, we all started approaching Splinter, who was standing in the middle of the room, his back to us. We started to surround him, forming a far circle around him. He turn around to face us, his eyes still closed. He spread his feet as he got into a position. _Let's do this, _I thought.

Suddenly, Mikey ran forward, jumped up, and tried to kick Sensei with both of his feet. Sensei opened his eyes. It was as though everything was happening in slow motion. Sensei turned around, grabbed Mikey's feet and threw him to the ground. He then kicked him in his chest, sending the turtle flying across the floor. By now Me, Donnie and Leo had started running at Splinter. Raph had already jumped up and was coming down, both fists raised. Splinter ducked Raph's punch, and he moved out of the way when Donnie aimed a kick at him and missed. I ran forward and attempted to do a spinning back kick, but Sensei hit my leg. My balance was lost and I fell down, landing in a crouching position.

"Okay…" I breathed.

Leo ran up and tried to kick Sensei, who ducked. Donnie ran up and aimed at kick at Splinter, but he just ducked under it, shot his arm out, and knocked Donnie off of his feet. Donnie spun in the air before Sensei kicked him out, causing him to collide with Raph, and the two brothers fell to the ground. I sprang to my feet and ran forward, Sensei's head turned away from me. I jumped up and somersaulted above his head. I landed in front of him swung my leg up to kick him. But he grabbed my ankle, swung his foot out, and knocked me off my feet. I fell with a loud _thud_, my side hitting the ground. I looked up to see that Leo was still standing. He ran up to Sensei, who swung his arm out and missed as Leo rolled under it. Leo then reared his fist back and launched it forward. There was a loud _smack _as his fist made contact with Sensei's face.

I gasped as I sat up straight. I couldn't believe it. Leo hit Sensei! That's never happened before. None of us had ever been able to lay so much as a finger on Sensei without him throwing us to the ground. Leo's eyes widened, horrified by what he had done.

"Ah! Sensei, I'm sorry!" he cried, his voice high with panic. "I-"

But he was cut off as Sensei grabbed his wrist and flipped him over. Leo landed painfully on the ground, his plastron to the floor. Sensei held his son's wrist up to keep him pinned as he lifted his free arm back, his hand forming a fist.

"Uh-oh," I mumbled.

"Oh man, Leo's a goner!" Donnie said worriedly.

"Oh no-de do-de!" Mikey exclaimed.

There was a small pause. Then Sensei lowered his fist and released Leo's wrist.

"Well done, Leonardo," he said proudly. "But just when you had the advantage, you hesitated. And that made you vulnerable."

"Hai… Sensei…" Leo grunted as he pushed himself off the floor.

"Now, that is all for today."

Sensei folded his arms behind his back as he strode over to his room. But just as he reached the door, he stopped.

"Unless you care for a rematch?"

"No thanks!"

"I'm good."

"Yeah, I think we're all set here."

I chuckled as I pushed myself to my feet.

"I think we're good for the day, Sensei."

Splinter slide the door open and entered his room. It wasn't until he shut the door that we finally moved.

"Leo!" Mikey said as we all ran up to our blue-banded leader.

"Not bad!" Raph said, sounding genuinely impressed as he folded his arms.

"Dude, I can't believe you actually _tagged _Sensei!" Donnie exclaimed. "That was epic!"

"Leo, that was probably one of the coolest things you've ever done!" I said excitedly as I slapped his shoulder.

Then Mikey reached forward and grabbed Leo's wrist, looking at his brother's hand as though it were the Holy Grail.

"The hand that punched Splinter…!" he breathed, beaming as he released Leo's wrist. "You know you can never wash this again!"

Leo smiled. "I gotta say guys, it was all teamwork. We are definitely getting better."

"Think we might be catching up to Splinter?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah, maybe soon we won't need him to train us at all," said Mikey.

We all laughed, humored by the idea. As we left the dojo, however, Mikey's comment made me think. Never needing Sensei to train us? The very thought seemed incredible. There was no way that any of us could be as good as Splinter was. But how much longer could it be before he decided he had nothing left to teach us?

"Hey, Nia?" Mikey called from the couch. "Wanna play video games?"

I looked down at him as he held two controllers in his hands. Putting my previous thoughts aside, I smiled as I walked over to the pit.

"Totally," I said as I jumped down and sat on the beanbag chair. "What're we playing?"

"Super Mario 64. Yah wanna be Mario?"

"Sure."

* * *

1 hour later found me and Mikey in the pit, still playing Super Mario.

"Don't miss it this time," I warned him.

"I won't, I won't!" he said quickly.

By now Mikey had slid off the couch and was kneeling close to the TV, his eyes glued to the screen. I remained on the beanbag, my eyes on my character.

"Here it comes!" I warned.

I messed with the controls and made my character step onto a platform. The platform turned and moved over to the other side. I crossed it and got off to the other side.

"Don't miss-"

"I won't!"

Mario stood still as I made him wait for Luigi to catch up. I could hear Mikey whispering to himself in excitement as he clicked away at the buttons on his controller. He's fallen off the platform twice already.

"Easy…" he whispered.

The platform turned back to him and little Luigi stepped on it. The platform turned and he ran across, standing on the ledge in front of my character.

"Yes!" Mikey cried.

"Finally! You made it!" I hollered.

Mikey was so excited that he started making his character do victory flips. At the last flip though, Luigi fell off the ledge.

"LUIGI!" I snapped.

Mikey threw his controller down, mumbling angrily like the pissed off gamer he was.

"Mamma mia, it's impossible!" he cried in an Italian accent.

With that I reared my head and burst into laughter, and a second later so did Mikey. No matter how many times we screwed up, we could always find humor in it.

"Alright! _One more time!_" Mikey declared.

"Mikey, you've failed three times," I said, recovering from my laughing fit. "Can't we just do another level-"

But I was cut off as a loud, drawn-out scream of pain pierced the air. I jumped in my seat at the sound. But the fact of who that scream belonged to gave me chills.

"Sensei…"

I dropped my controller and sprang to my feet, jumping out of the pit and running to the dojo. I could hear footsteps behind me as Mikey ran behind me. I ran into the dojo and skidded to a halt. Sensei was in the middle of the dojo, hunched over, kneeling on the ground on his hands and knees.

"Sensei!"

I ran forward and skidded to a halt on my knees in front of him. I heard several footsteps from behind me. I didn't have to look to know it was the others.

"Sensei…" I heard Donnie breath. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine…" Sensei groaned lowly, holding his head with his hand.

"You sure you're alright?" Leo asked. "You don't seem-"

But he was cut off as a little tune of birds chirping and harps playing sounded loudly.

"Hey, that's April's ringtone!" Donnie exclaimed.

At that moment Raph and Mikey started making loud kissing noises, obviously mocking their brother's affections. Despite the situation I couldn't help but giggle. Donnie frowned, pushing his brothers' faces away from him. He took out his T-Phone and answered.

"Hey April," he said, then cleared his throat and said more smoothly, "I mean- Hey, April…"

I snorted.

"I mean-!"

Donnie stopped talking and I could hear April's voice on the other line, talking frantically, though I couldn't hear what she was saying. Donnie frowned, then he turned his back and strode over, listening to whatever April was saying.

"Uh-huh," he said. "Uh-huh… Okay… Alright, don't worry! We're on the way!"

He hung up and put the phone in his belt.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She said she's… surrounded by an army of rats."

I raised my eyebrow. What? What was that suppose to mean?

"Is she serious?" Raph asked, irritated.

"Whatever it is, we should go check it out," Leo said, standing up. "C'mon ninjas."

* * *

I didn't understand what the issue with the rats could've been until after we had gone to the surface. I don't know how and I don't know why, but when we got up there the streets were completely covered in rats. It looked like some kind of rat army was running ramped in the streets. I had to knock a couple off of me as me and the guys made for the rooftops.

"Oh wow, the city is so beautiful in the day time!" Mikey said as we leapt over another building. "Except for the, yah know… billions of rats."

"It's a lot better _without_ the rats, believe me," I said as I ran next to him.

"Actually," Donnie said from the other side of Mikey. "The entire rat population of New York is only about 36 million and-"

"I will _smack_ you outta your shell!" Raph said sharply.

"Uh, guys!" Leo called from in front of us. "We may have a problem!"

We all ran up and skidded to a halt by the edge of the roof so we could look out into the street. A sea of rats was still covering the roads and the sidewalks below. I looked up at the telephone poll nearest us, and saw April was on top of it, clinging for dear life.

"Oh, rats!" Mikey exclaimed, then giggled. "Haha, get it?"

"For the fourteenth time, _yes_!" Raph snapped.

I ran up to the ledge and put my hands up to cup my mouth.

"April!"

At my yell she turned her head and spotted us.

"Guys!" she called out.

"Dude, how the hell did you get up there?" I yelled.

"I don't know!"

"We're coming April!" Donnie hollered. "Don't go anywhere!"

"Where could I possibly go?"

I rolled my eyes. Then me and the guys took out our grappling hooks, spinning the ends around our heads before tossing them out. The hooks all shot forward and embedded themselves into the post. One by one, we all jumped down and went towards the post. I gripped the rope tightly as I kept my feet on the post. Curiously, I glanced down below. Even from this high up I could see dozens of rats chewing at the wood of the post.

"I suggest we start climbing, and fast!" I hollered to the others.

They all contemplated, immediately climbing up their ropes. I was right next to Raph as we continued climbing. A rat crawled up on his shell, and he growled as he smack it off. But even as he did another one crawled up on top of his head. He grunted angrily.

"These stupid rats are starting to get on my nerves!"

"Rats aren't stupid," Donnie said from below us. "Despite their small brain size, their remarkably-"

Raph grabbed the rat that was on his head and threw it down as his brother. The creature hit Donnie right in his face.

"Ow!"

Donnie glared up at Raph, who already had another rat in his hand, ready to throw it.

"I warned yah," he said simply.

"Raph," Leo said firmly, and we looked up at him. "Put down the rat and keep climbing!"

Raph rolled his eyes as he tossed the rat away. I held onto the rope and continued climbing.

"Hurry!" April called down.

There was a loud creaking noise and suddenly, the post began to shift. It leaned sharply to the side, and I heard April yelp. I looked up in time to see April slip and fall off the top of the post.

"Donnie!" I yelled.

Donnie gasped. He then jumped off the post and swung around. He grabbed April in time before swinging back and landed on the post again. I sighed with relief.

"As long as Donnie's here," I heard Donnie say. "You have nothing to…"

The creaking started getting louder and louder, and the poll started moving around more.

"Oh boy…" Donnie muttered.

I looked down below. Rats were still chewing at the bass of the poll. The post suddenly gave a huge lurch and we started leaning to the side. I let go of the rope and grabbed onto the post. We all yelled as the thing fell towards the ground. But the cables attached to another telephone poll stopped the thing from falling. I gripped on the wood with all my might as my legs slipped off so I was hanging, my arms hanging over the other side. The others were all hanging off the post too, all gripping it with their hands and legs.

"Okay," April said breathlessly. "I appreciate you guys coming to help, but how is this better than getting eaten by rats?!"

"At least it'll be quick," said Mikey, looking up at her as he hung off the post by his hands. "With rats they chew, and chew, and chew, and chew… and chew…"

"Okay, we get it!" April snapped.

"Let's move," said Donnie.

Carefully, I pushed myself up to stand on the post. The others followed suit. As soon as they did we all turned and started to walk to the other end. _Snap!_ One of the cables holding the post snapped, making the thing lurch.

"Hurry!" Donnie urged.

At once we ran over to the end of the post. _Snap!_ The other cable broke. The other end of the post leaned down and hit the ground, and the end we were on rose up. When the opposite end hit the ground, our end snapped up, sending us flying. We all soared through the air for a few seconds before we all landed back on a roof. I tumbled into a few forced summersaults before coming to a halt.

"Ugh, rats…" Mikey mumbled, rubbing his head.

I stared at him, brows furrowed.

"Dude, do you _want _Raph to kill you?"

Mikey shrugged. We all stood up on our feet and walked to the ledge. Leo stepped forward and pointed down at the army of rats.

"Chew on _that_, ratfinks!"

I raised my eyebrow as me and the others all stared at him, not saying a word. Leo frowned at us.

"Oh, come on! That sounded cool!"

I snorted. "Not exactly the coolest thing you could say, Leo."

"Does anyone know what the heck is going on?" April asked, irritably.

"I'm not sure…" Donnie said lowly, putting his fist against his chin to think. "But whatever this is, this attack is extremely well coordinated. Obviously, there is a higher intelligence at work here."

"Well, that rules out Mikey," Raph said as said turtle glared at him.

"I'm serious," said Donnie, sounding very serious indeed. "Someone or some_thing _is controlling every rat in the city."

Raph's face fell. "Wait a sec… _Every _rat?"

"That means Splinter could be…" Leo trailed off.

I gasped.

"Sensei!"

I instantly spun on my heel and sprinted across the rooftop.

"Nia, wait up!" Mikey yelled.

* * *

I never stopped running even as the others yelled for me to slow down. I couldn't stop. Not yet. I didn't even thing of stopping until I had jumped over the turnstiles at the lair entrance.

"Sensei?" I called out.

I walked down the steps, looking around for my master. Then at least my gaze fell on him. He was laying on his futon beside the pit, his eyes closed and his arms folded across his chest.

"Sensei…"

I ran forward and slid on my knees to halt beside his form. He didn't look hurt. In fact, he appeared to be sleeping. I heard footsteps behind me that told me the others had finally caught up. They all ran over to Sensei, and I saw April kneel down on the other side of him.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"Donnie, you're the smart one! What do we do?" Raph asked urgently.

I looked up at Donnie, hoping he had an answer.

"…M-Maybe we should… poke him?"

_You've gotta be kidding me…_

"Good idea," said Leo. "Mikey, poke him."

"No way! I'm not pokin' him, _you _poke him!"

Leo frowned. "Okay, we'll put it to a vote…"

"Mikey," the three older turtles said in unison.

Mikey's eyes widened. Then he turned to look down at me.

"Nia! Help a turtle out?"

"Mikey," I said. "Even if you and I both voted for one of them, it would still be 2 against 3."

"I want a recount!"

Donnie ignored his brother and handed him his Bo staff. Mikey groaned as he took the weapon.

"Ugh… Fine!"

Mikey stepped forward, but hesitated as he inched closer towards Sensei, staff trembling in his grasp. Feeling like I should keep my distance, I slowly scooted back a bit on the floor. Mikey lowered the end of the weapon closer and closer towards Sensei's face. The other three hovered over his shoulder as he got closer.

"Easy! Easy…" Donnie warned lowly. "Careful not to squeeze…"

Suddenly the nagnita blade shot out, just barley missing Sensei's nose. Me and the guys all screamed. The others all jumped back, tripping on each other. Raph even fell down and landed on his shell. Panicked, Mikey threw the Bo staff down and stepped back, looking frightened. Donnie walked forward and picked it up.

"Okay," he said shortly as he shoved the staff into his brother's hands. "Let's try it from the other end!"

Mikey shook his head fearfully, but Donnie ignored him and pushed him forward. Mikey inched forward and quickly gabbed Sensei's chest. He flinched back as though ready for an explosion. But it didn't come. Mikey straightened up. He poked Splinter's chest a few more times. Then he walked all around him, poking our sensei in several different places. Still, nothing happened.

"Wow, he's totally out of it!"

Mikey lifted the staff again and started poking Sensei's nose. He giggled.

"Dudes! Check out the nose-nuggets!"

Donnie face palmed, shaking his head. I sighed with slight relief as I stood up. I walked over to Raph, who was still on the ground, and held out my hand. He took it and I helped him to his feet.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"I dunno," said Leo. "Should we wait for him to wake up?"

"That's probably all we can do," said Donnie.

I folded my arms. The Waiting Game was something I was not in the mood to play. I turned around to look at Mikey, and saw he was still messing around with Sensei's face.

"Mikey, knock it off," I said seriously.

Mikey either didn't hear me or simply ignored me. Either way, he continued to play with Sensei's face.

"Michelangelo is awesome!" he said in a very poor Japanese accent. "He is the smartest, handsomest, butt-kicking-est of all my-"

Suddenly, Sensei's eyes snapped open. Before we could do anything he grabbed the Bo staff and swung it around. Mikey shot back and slammed into the stairs.

"…Sons," he finished weakly.

I turned my head back to Sensei, who stood up, supported by Donnie's staff.

"Oh, thank God," I breathed, running forward.

"Sensei, are you alright?" Leo asked.

"No, Leonardo," Sensei said hoarsely, giving Donnie his staff. "I am not. It would appear that your former adversary, Dr. Falco, has returned."

I gasped. Falco? That creeping, scientist that turned Rockwell into a mutant monkey?

"Falco's behind this?" Donnie asked. "How is that possible.

Sensei held his head gingerly as he walked towards the dojo. Silently, we all followed.

"Somehow, he has required a telepathic connection with every rat in the city," he said as we entered the dojo. "And he now calls himself 'The Rat King'."

"Oh, great!" Mikey snapped. "So now we're letting the bad guys name themselves? We gotta take him down!"

I rolled my eyes. _Way to keep your priorities straight, Mikey._

"Yes, Michelangelo, you do," said Sensei. "The Rat King will not rest until he has total control of this city… and my mind."

"Sensei?" Leo asked.

Splinter didn't answer. He walked over to the bookshelf where his shrine holding the picture of his family sat. He reached up and took the picture down, holding it in his hands.

"Everything I knew is gone. My wife, my daughter, my clan… even my humanity!" he turned his serious gaze upon me and the guys. "You five are all I have left."

For some reason those words pinched at my heart. Yes, we were his students- his children. And yes, we were the only family he had. I knew he didn't want to loose his family a second time. But, I can honestly say I can't relate to _that _particular thing. I never had a family before I met the guys.

"Don't you worry, Sensei," Raph punched his fist into his palm. "We'll stop him."

"But we gotta find him first," said Donnie.

"When the Rat King attempted to take control of me," Sensei said. "I could see into his mind. You will find his lair in an abandoned utility junction beneath Harold Square."

"Well, at least we know where he is," I said.

"Let's go play exterminator!" Raph said enthusiastically.

Suddenly, Sensei yelled in pain. He dropped his photo and hunched forward, grabbing his head. Me, Leo and April ran forward.

"Sensei?"

Sensei must've noticed the fear in my voice, because he quickly looked up at me. Keeping on hand on his head, he put the other on my shoulder.

"Have no fear, my daughter," he said lowly.

"Fight him, Sensei," said Leo.

"I will. Just…hurry."

Sensei straightened up. He removed his hand from my shoulder and started to walk away, April standing next to him with her hand on his back.

"It's okay, guys," she said reassuringly. "You go after the Rat King. I'll stay with Sensei."

I nodded. I turned to look at Leo and saw he had picked up the photo. He stared down at it, not saying a word.

"Leo," I said. "We gotta go."

Leo nodded.

* * *

Once Leo had a plan thought up we had immediately gone out. We decided that it was easier to get to the junction by going underground through the sewers. So, we did just that.

"What's gonna happen to Splinter if we can't stop the Rat King?" Mikey asked. "Which, by the way, lamest villain name _ever_!"

"Let it _go_, already!" Donnie said exasperatingly.

"We're gonna stop the Rat King, and Splinter's gonna be fine," Raph said firmly. "Right, Leo?"

Leo didn't answer. At that moment we all hear tiny squeaking. We looked down and saw a single rat scurrying across the ground and running off.

"Shh! Quiet!" Donnie hissed. "Do you guys hear that?"

No sooner did he speak before there was the sound of what sounded like millions of running feet, along with high-pitched squeaking. Before I knew it a large wave of rats came swarming in from the other end of the tunnel.

"You gotta be kidding," Raph grumbled.

"Oh, ra-"

Raph snapped his hand over Mikey's mouth, preventing him from saying 'rats'.

"Uh, Leo?" Donnie asked. "Any ideas?"

"Just one," he said. "Move!"

We turned on the spot and bolted. The squeaking rats were right on our tails as we ran down the sewer tunnel. My head snapped up as I saw Leo jump up and grab onto the pipes on the roof. Donnie and Raph followed suit, and I did right after them. For some reason Mikey kept running for a bit instead of jumping. By the time he did the rats had caught up to him. Several were already crawling up his feet and legs. He yelled and kicked most of them off, raising his legs and latching them onto the pipes. Then one crawled onto his head and he yelled as it bit him.

"Ow!" he cried. "Oh no, they've got the taste for turtle now!"

"C'mon!" said Leo. "Just keep moving!"

I gripped the pipes tightly as we made our way over the wave of rats.

"This is so not cool," I sighed.

"Tell me about it," Raph grumbled.

The next few minutes were spent crawling across the pipes, remaining above the sea of rats below. Lucky for us, our years of ninja training prevented our arms from getting too tired to hold us up.

"I'm just saying, I can think a billion better names than the 'Rat King'," Mikey said irritably as we continued to crawl the pipes. "There's 'Ratzilla', 'The Verminator', 'Lord Rattington'…"

"Can it Mikey," said Leo. "We're almost there. The utility chamber should be on the other side of that wall."

"Uh… you mean that disgusting, furry, squirming wall?" Raph asked.

I leaned my head to the side to look past him and saw that the wall ahead was completely covered with thousands of rats.

"Eck!" I groaned.

"How're we suppose to get past that?" Donnie asked.

Leo hung there, thinking for a moment. Then his head snapped up.

"Raph, those barrels. Ventilate them."

"You got it."

Keeping one hand on the pipe to hold him up, Raph reached into his belt and took out two shuikens. He threw the stars out and they each hit two, yellow barrels that resided on the floor next to the door.

"Leo," Donnie piped up. "You do realize those chemicals are highly combustible?"

But instead of looking worried, Leo smirked.

"You don't say."

He then took out one of his katanas and used it to slice through the thick, electric cord lining the wall above. The thing sparked as it fell and hit the barrels. They exploded. The force not only knocked the rats out of the way, but also blew a large hole in the wall.

"Nice one, Leo," I said.

Leo grinned, putting his sword back into its sheath.

"Let's move."

* * *

Once we went past the wall it was only a matter of time before we finally found the utility junction. The place was just about as rundown and crappy as it could get. The place was filthy and falling apart, several levels exposed by the decaying floors. Only a few old, busted lights lit the room enough for us to see where we were going. And the whole place smelled of dust and decaying plaster.

As we walked into the area I could feel someone's gaze on us. I only had to look up at the exposed upper level to see a dark figure standing there, looking down at us. I knew at once that it was Falco, but he was…different. He had changed his wardrobe so that he was wearing a long, black trench coat and a huge black hat, but that wasn't all. Even from this distance and with his face hidden in shadow I could see what appeared to be his face, and it looked burned and disgusting. Whatever accident caused that, it must've also been how he gain his telepathic connection with rats.

"Ah, my little friends," he said, and his voice had more rasp than before. "We meet again."

"Except last time, Falco, you weren't wearing a sad Halloween costume," Raph jeered.

At that, me and the boys all started laughing. Falco wasn't amused in the slightest.

"I am the 'Rat King'!" he bellowed.

Our laughter died, and I noticed a large, white rat crawl up on his shoulder. Mikey coughed loudly.

"Lame…" he said lowly.

"Sorry," said Leo. "We don't have any treats for you, but we've got a few tricks!"

This moment would've remained cool if Donnie's cute little ringtone for April had started ringing.

"Way to ruin the moment, Donnie," said Raph.

Donnie frowned sheepishly as he reached behind him and pulled out his phone.

"Put it on speaker," I told him.

He nodded and pressed the speaker button.

"Uh, April, now's not really the best time…"

"_Donnie, it's Splinter!" _April said hurriedly. _"He's gone!"_

I gasped. "What?"

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Donnie asked. "Gone where?"

"Here…"

I inhaled sharply and straightened up. None of us had said that, neither did Falco. It was a voice that I knew all too well, and the sound of it right then made my hair stand on end. I gulped once before slowly turning around and looking up and the next level up. I watched in horror as Master Splinter stepped out from behind the wall. Me and the guys all gasped, stunned into silence. Sensei was looking at us with a blank expression that I had never witnessed before. But what really gave me terrifying chills was his eyes. They were solid red, and glowing brightly.

"Oh God…" I shuttered.

"What's wrong with him?" Leo asked.

"It's like his brain is completely turned off," said Donnie.

"You mean like Mikey?" Raph and Mikey asked at the same time, to which Raph glared and Mikey smirked.

"Dude, you're so predictable," Mikey said smugly.

"Mikey, this isn't the time," I hissed.

I continued to look at Sensei, at red, emotionless eyes. Leo stepped forward.

"Sensei, snap out of it!" he urged.

"You waste your words," Sensei said in a monotone voice, and several rats appeared on his head and shoulders. "This is where I belong- with my brothers."

"He is mine now," said Rat King. "Imagine my delight when I realized that controlling your master would not only make me invincible, but would also be the key to your demise!"

Rat King reared his head back and laughed. In spite of myself, I couldn't help but feel that he was probably right.

"Splinter," he ordered. "Destroy them."

Remaining silent, Sensei started to walk down the flight of stairs leading to our level.

"S-Sensei, don't!" Leo cried.

Sensei stopped, and his eyes widened. For a moment it looked as though he were back. But from the corner of my eye, I saw Rat King take off his hat and the heavy bandages on his face. Nothing but two, completely white orbs remained of his once normal eyes. Sensei stiffened, then continued his decent towards us.

"We don't have a choice," I said sadly, reaching underneath my hoodie and taking out my kamas.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Donnie asked as he unsheathed his Bo staff.

"Remember, we did beat him once," Raph said, taking out his sais. "Kind of…"

"Yeah, and we can beat him again," Leo said, his face determined. "We can do this, guys. Do _not _hesitate."

Sensei stopped walking, standing directly in front of us. The rats crawled off his head and shoulders and scurried away. Sensei reached over and withdrew his sword, holding it at his side. Leo unsheathed his katanas, taking a defensive stance. I breathed deeply through my nose and exhaled from my mouth. _Protect the guys, Nia, _a voice said in my head. _You have to. _Leo stepped forward, and his next words hit me with the force of a sledgehammer.

"Take. Sensei. _Down_."

Our movement was instant. First Leo, then Donnie, then me, then Raph, and then Mikey. We all ran forward and instantly jumped into the air. We raised our weapons, ready to strike down on our Sensei. But when we landed on the ground, our weapons hit nothing but the floor. We stared down for a second before something moved behind us. I whipped my head around. Before I had time to register what was happening there was a sickening blow delivered to my stomach and I went flying. My back slammed against the hard brick wall and I fell to the floor. I coughed and panted as the wind was knocked out of me. I grasped my throat as I pushed myself up. I could see the others had been knocked out to other sides of the room. I looked up in time to see Donnie slam into a huge pipe then fall onto the ground.

"Nia! You okay?" I heard Mikey yell.

"I'm fine!" I hollered. "Donnie?"

Donnie shook his head as he sat up.

"I just had a horrible realization…"

"What?" I asked.

Donnie whipped his head around, his eyes wide and fearful.

"He's been goin' easy on us all these years!"

I followed his gaze and saw Sensei had taken a stance, sword held high in the air. Suddenly Donnie sprang to his feet and ran forward. He jumped up in the air, spinning his staff as he let out a battle cry. He swung his staff down as he landed, but Sensei dodged. Donnie ran forward, jabbing his staff and Sensei's face. Sensei ran backwards, avoiding every jab Donnie threw at him. Donnie stopped running and jumped again, aiming closer this time. But Sensei knocked Donnie's staff out of his hands with his sword, and it spun high in the air. Sensei reared his elbow back and brought it forward, slamming it into Donnie's chest. Donnie made a loud 'oof' sound as he flew back and landed on the ground.

"Donnie!" Mikey cried.

The young turtle swung his kusarigama chain above his head before swinging it out. Sensei dodged the chain, but instead let it wrap around his sword. He then yanked it down hard, causing Mikey, who was holding the other end, to fly out. He slammed against the opposite wall and fell. At that moment Raph ran up behind Sensei, sais raised.

"Nobody hits Mikey, but me!" he yelled.

Sensei dodged his attack and Raph ran past him. He spun around, swinging his sai back. But Sensei had moved away. He did a front flip and kicked his foot out, hitting Raph in the face. Raph fell back on his shell, his sais falling out of his hands.

"Raph!" I yelled.

I sprang to my feet, kamas in hands. Sensei turned towards me, sword at the ready. _Nobody hurts my brothers… _I let out and angry yell and I ran forward, kamas held at my sides. Sensei remained still, obviously waiting for me. I threw my left kama out towards Sensei's face. It went straight for his head, but he dodged it. As he moved I jumped up, raising my kama as I came down. Sensei reached up and grabbed my wrist before throwing me down on the ground. I let out a grunt that turned into a shout of pain as Sensei stood hard on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, and for a split second I wasn't looking at my sensei. I was looking up a man with dark hair, and a white T-shirt that was stained with beer…

Before I could even blink there was a hard kick delivered to my stomach and I was thrown back into air. I landed on the ground and tumbled over and didn't stop until I felt my head hit something. A rock, perhaps. Little stars appeared in my vision and I felt dizzy.

"Sensei, please!" I heard Leo pled.

I couldn't lift my head to look at what was going on. The dizziness in my head and the pain in my shoulder combined was unbelievable. I heard shuffling from next to me, and when I opened my eyes I saw a fuzzy image of green and purple.

"Nia? Are you okay?"

I blinked a few times. Donnie was crouched over me, a look of worry on his face.

"Fine…" I said, my voice hoarse.

Donnie held my arm and helped me sit up. I rubbed my head as I looked up. I gasped as Leo was pushed to the ground and Sensei put a foot on his plastron. He held his sword near Leo's face, ready to strike.

"Wait!" Leo cried.

"Finish him," Rat King ordered.

"Remember who you are!" Leo said, and he pulled out the picture of Sensei and is family. "Hamato Yoshi!"

Sensei hesitated, eyes narrowed.

"Donnie! Raph! _Now!_"

At once Donnie and Raph sprang forward and pushed Sensei off of Leo and down to the floor. I stood up and ran forward at the same time as Mikey, and he looked just as anxious as I felt. Leo placed a foot on Sensei's back to keep him down.

"Please… father…" Leo pleaded. "We _need _you!"

I took a deep breath. I walked forward and kneeled down in front of Sensei. He looked up at me, and through the glowing red eyes I could almost see my sensei again.

"Sensei…" I breathed. "Please… come back to us…"

Sensei stared at me, not saying anything.

"Don't listen to them, brother!" Rat King said from behind us. "Your place is with _me_!"

Sensei stiffened, then opened his eyes. He let out a yell as he flipped over, knocking all the boys aside and pinning Leo to the ground. Before I could move from my spot Sensei pointed his sword at me, keeping me in my place. I gasped. _No… Please, no!_ Sensei lowered his head, closing his eyes.

"My place…"

He snapped his head up and opened his eyes. They were their usual bright brown.

"…is with my _children!_"

Sensei sprang to his feet, running straight for the Rat King. He reared his arm back and shot it forward, holding two fingers out. His fingers hit the Rat King, and the man shot back in one, powerful blast. He slammed into a pillar and fell into a heap on the ground, unconscious.

Me and the guys were still for a second, them standing up and me still on the ground. Then the guys ran forward and embraced Splinter in a group hug.

"Sensei!" they all chorused.

Sensei smiled down at them. Then he looked down at me, frowning slightly. Ignoring all my surroundings, I instantly sprang to my feet and ran forward, wrapping my arms around his middle.

"Father…"

Sensei let out a small breath that sounded like a laugh as he placed and arm on my back, rubbing it gently. At that moment I heard loud squeaking from behind me, and I turned my head to see a large sea of rats appeared to have consumed the figure of the Rat King. And as they departed, his body was gone. I lowered my hands and turned, Sensei's hand still on my back.

"And that's the last we'll see of… Count Ratcula!" Mikey jeered, waving his fingers in the air.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes. I glanced up to see Sensei shaking his head at his son. Mikey frowned.

"Yeah… Alright, it's 'Rat King'. But I'm namin' the next one!"

* * *

I peeked my head around the corner, looking into the dojo. Sensei was sitting there, meditating.

"He said he was fine, Leo," I whispered to said turtle. "No worries."

"I know," he whispered back. "But, still…"

Leo had a concerned look on his face. I placed a hand on his shoulder to show him that I understood.

"You want me to come in with you?"

Leo nodded. I lowered my hand as we both walked into the dojo. Sensei turned his head as we came in.

"Hey, Sensei," I greeted.

"Hello, Lavinia," he said as he stood up. "And Leonardo. What is it?"

"Sensei," Leo said nervously. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Sensei looked at his son deeply.

"I am fine, thanks to you," he stepped forward and placed a hand on both of our shoulders. "You did well, my children."

I smiled up at him as I bowed my head.

"Thank you, Sensei."

"Well, you _did_ hesitate," Leo said, and he was grinning now. "And hesitation leads to vulnerability."

I chuckled. "Hey, ease up, Leo."

"We did pretty good too, huh?"

I whipped my head around. Mikey, Raph and Donnie were all standing in the doorway, grinning at us. I sighed, shaking my head.

"No privacy in this place," I said, but I was grinning.

"Yes," said Sensei. "I am proud of you all."

"Who knows?" said Leo. "Maybe someday we'll be better martial artists than you."

I raised my eyebrows. _Going a bit far, Leo._

"Remember, my son," Sensei said wisely. "Everything you know, I have shown you…"

Sensei grinned. He then grabbed Leo's wrist, spun around, and threw him across the room. Leo's shell hit the wall and he slid to the floor, his eyes rolling. I stared for a second before covering my mouth as I started giggling.

"…but I have not shown you everything I know," Sensei finished.

"It's great to have you back, Sensei…" Leo said hoarsely.

Sensei chuckled. Me and the boys stood over Leo, laughing at him. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned.

"Lavinia," said Sensei. "A word?"

"Oh, okay."

I glanced over to see Raph help Leo to his feet before walking over with Sensei to the other side of the dojo. Sensei stopped walking, but didn't look at me.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

I blinked. "Yes, Sensei. I'm fine. Why?"

Sensei didn't speak immediately. From behind me I could hear the boys talking and laughing so I wasn't worried about them overhearing.

"When the Rat King took control of me, I could still see what I was doing," said Sensei. "But I couldn't stop myself from doing what I did."

"It wasn't you fault, Sensei," I said. "Like you said, you were under his control."

"Yes, I know. But, I cannot change what I saw," Sensei turned to look at me. "And when I was forced to fight you, I saw nothing but fear in your eyes."

I stared at him. I finally understood what he was saying. He was talking about when he had me on the ground and stood on my shoulder. I had looked at him, and had a flashback of my 'old dad'. The one who abused me as a child.

"Oh…that."

Sensei turned to face me completely and he stepped towards me.

"I'll ask again; Are you alright?"

I gulped. Now that I think about it, I wasn't sure if I was completely alright. I could still remember the fear I felt when I had that horrible flashback.

"Well…yeah," I said unsurely, folding my arms. "I mean… that fight just brought up some… bad memories, that's all."

That's when I noticed it. The silence. The boys weren't talking anymore. I glanced over behind me and saw the boys staring at me, their faces blank with shock. I couldn't blame them. The life I had before I met them was a subject that was almost never talked about anymore. In fact, the last time it was talked about was when I was ten years old, and I had had a nightmare about my 'old dad'. My awful past had not been talked about since.

I looked back up at Sensei, and he had an unreadable expression on his face. He took another step towards me and he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Lavinia, I was not in control of myself," he said gently. "I would never hurt you or your brothers the way you have been hurt. What happened to you as a child was disgraceful and I am so sorry that I made you relive it."

"No, Sensei," I reached up and grabbed his hand. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault. Please…"

Sensei looked down at me, his eyes looking deep into mine. I stared up at him before I felt my face break out into a small smile, hoping this would help him understand. I was in luck. Sensei smiled down at me as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

"Very well," he said, and he released my hand and looked over my shoulder at the boys. "There will be no training today."

I heard the boys gasp and shout with glee. I beamed up at Sensei as he retreated to his room, smile on his face. I knew instantly what to do. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my T-Phone. I typed in a number and pressed the caller button. I waited patiently as it continued ringing.

"…_Hello?"_

"Hey, Vanessa," I said. "You busy tonight?"

"_Girl, it's Wednesday. Me and Angus go to the park every Wednesday night."_

I smiled. "Good. I just found out I'm free tonight. I'll meet you guys there."


	19. Battle Outing

**Hey guys! Guess what? I got a little surprise for yah! Can you guess what it is? Well, i'll tell yah...**

**I'VE CREATED AN ORIGINAL CHAPTER!**

**Yes, yes i've done it! This took a lot of time, a lot of work, and a lot of planning. And it was all for you guys! This was, however, EXTREMELY LONG! Like, 44 pages! YIKES! But, it was worth it. Well, I'll let you get to reading. I hope you enjoy...**

* * *

Ch. 14  
Battle Outing

(Tuesday)

"Donnie, can't you just tell me?"

"No, I wanna show you."

"Can I at least uncover my eyes?"

"No, not yet!"

I sighed. I had just been playing my guitar in my room when Donnie had barged in and told me he had something to show me. I asked him what it was, but he wouldn't tell me. He was excited about it, though. He didn't want me to see it just yet. He even turned my mask around so that the part without the eyeholes was covering my eyes. Right now he was currently holding me by my shoulders, pushing me towards his lab.

"Donnie, can I-"

"Just wait!"

At long last Donnie finally stopped pushing me and let go of my shoulders. I guess I was in his lab now.

"Can I look now?"

"Just a sec…"

I heard footsteps as Donnie ran around and shuffling noises as he rummaged through his things.

"Okay, move your mask."

I reached up and turned my mask back around. When I was finally able to see I saw Donnie standing in front of me, both of his hands held behind his back.

"Alright, Donnie," I said. "What're you so excited about?"

"Well," Donnie grinned, bouncing slightly on his feet. "Remember how you said that the belt you have for your kamas isn't really working for you anymore?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, take a look at _this_!"

Donnie brought both of his hands out in front of him. In his clutches I saw what was undeniably a belt. But not just any belt; it was a belt that looked just like the ones the guys had for their weapons, except this one was solid black instead of brown. And on the sides of it where small, thick loops that could hold any weapon with a handle. The leather was thick and shiny and looked brand new. I stared at it in surprise and amazement.

"Donnie," I breathed in astonishment. "This looks awesome!"

Donnie grinned, looking pleased at my reaction.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" he said. "Try it on."

I nodded as I quickly unzipped my sleeveless hoodie and took it off. I undid the Velcro strap around my waist and dropped it as Donnie held my new belt to me. I grabbed it and put it on around my hips. It fit very nicely. After making sure it was on right I reached down and took my kamas out of my old belt. I slipped them into the loops and dropped my arms. I turned in a circle, examining myself.

"What do yah think?" Donnie asked, arms folded.

"I love it," I said honestly, and I smiled up at him. "I really love it. Thanks, Donnie."

Donnie grinned. "That's it? No hug?"

I giggled, then went forward and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me back. We parted after a few seconds, still smiling at each other.

"I gotta show the others," I said excitedly.

Completely forgetting my hoodie on the floor, I turned and ran out of the lab. I looked over at the pit and saw Leo and Mikey were sitting on the couch watching TV, and Raph was in the beanbag chair, reading his comic.

"Hey guys!" I called out. "Check out my new belt!"

All three boys turned their heads to look at me. Mikey was the first to notice the difference, though.

"Girl! Nice belt!" he yelled, jumping from his seat and running up to me. "Looks awesome."

"Thanks. Donnie made it for me."

"Ah, it was nothing," Donnie said as he walked in, holding my forgotten hoodie in his hand.

"Looks nice," said Leo as he walked up to us. "Better than the last one."

"I know. I think it works better, too."

I looked up as Raph walked up, arms folded. He looked down at my belt, and nodded.

"I like it," he said. "Looks cool."

I grinned. I was glad that they at least liked the new belt for my weapon. I was just about to ask Donnie what else he's been working on when my phone started ringing.

_**Because you know I'm all about that base- bout that base. No treble…**_

I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and answered.

"Hey, Vanessa."

"_Nia! You gotta get out here right now!"_

"What? Why?" I asked.

"_It's Angus! He got a gig!"_

"What? What're you talking about?"

"_Yeah! You know that coffee shop I told you about? 'Java Café'?"_

"Yeah."

"_Yeah, he got a gig set up here and he's gonna play in a bit. You gotta get over here right now!"_

"Okay, okay," I said quickly. "I'm on my way."

"_Awesome! See yah soon!"_

I lowered the phone and hung up.

"What's up?" Donnie asked.

"It's Angus," I said excitedly. "Vanessa says he's got a gig at 'Java Café'!"

"Sweet!" said Mikey.

"I know! He's probably gonna go on any minute, I gotta get over there."

"Wait, you're leaving now?" Leo asked.

"I gotta," I called to him as I ran to my room. "His gig's today, I need to get there before he goes on."

I opened my door as I yanked off my elbow pads and threw them on my bed, and I did the same with my knee pads as well. I pulled off my mask and set it on my pillow. I looked around the room and saw my skateboard laying against my bed frame on the opposite end. I ran forward, grabbed the board, and ran out of my room. I was almost out of the room when I remembered that I still had my kamas.

"Oh! Right!"

I quickly took off my belt and threw it on the pile on my bed too. I quickly exited my room and went to the living room.

"You need this?" Donnie asked, lifting my hoodie up.

"Nah, I'm good."

"When are you gonna be back?" Leo asked.

"I'm not sure," I said as I headed backwards towards the exit. "Tell Sensei that I'll be back in about two hours."

"Sure thing," said Raph.

"Thanks!" I called to them before turning around and jumping over the turnstiles.

* * *

I rode smoothly and quickly down the sidewalk on my skateboard, remaining conscious of the people around me. Aside from a few pedestrians I didn't have to worry about running anyone over. In fact, on my way down the street I past a few dudes who were on their own skateboards. One of them, a boy with long, blonde hair held up a shaka hand gesture and said, "Right on, dudette." I giggled, for the boy reminded me of Mikey. I smiled, gave them a peace sign, and rolled on.

It didn't take long for me to arrive at the coffee shop. It wasn't hard to spot, either. It was on the corner of the street and had a bright blue sign with the words 'Java Café' written in orange. As I rode up the sidewalk I noticed there were several people, mostly teens, all going in and out of the shop. But I noticed one figure standing outside the entrance. It was a girl wearing a bright, blue blouse, with short, curly black hair.

"Vanessa!"

She turned her head as I rode up closer, and an open-mouthed smile broke across her face.

"Nia!" she called. "Hey!"

I waved as I rode up more. Vanessa walked up to me a little bit, and her jaw dropped when she looked down and saw my skateboard.

"Wow, you weren't joking," she said surprisingly. "You really do skate."

I shrugged as I put my foot down to stop myself.

"Yeah, well, growin' up with four boys has its advantages."

"No kidding. C'mon in, Angus hasn't started yet. We can still grab some descent seats."

I picked up my skateboard as Vanessa held my wrist and dragged me through the front entrance. I sighed slightly as the smell of several different coffees enveloped me. _Man, coffee smells awesome! _I looked around the shop and saw several round tables with cute, orange chairs all around them. Lots of teens filled the entire area, all with different kinds of coffee in front of them. On the far end of the shop was a large wooden stage with an old, brick wall background with several microphones set up.

"C'mon, this way," said Vanessa.

She lead me through the many tables towards one in the very center that was surprisingly empty. She sat in one chair and set her purse on the table. I set my board on the ground as I took the seat next to her.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Now, we order some drinks," Vanessa turned around and cupped her mouth. "Hey, Charlie!"

I frowned as I turned my head, and I saw a coffee boy from behind the counter look up. He had a patch of curly, dirty blonde hair protruding from underneath a black, lazy beanie. He looked in our direction and smiled, obviously at Vanessa.

"Hey, girl!" he called out. "What can get you?"

"Two Caffé Marocchinos, pronto!"

The boy called Charlie nodded and disappeared behind the counter again.

"Friend of yours?" I asked Vanessa.

She nodded as she reached into her purse for her wallet. "Friend from school; he's in my History class."

I nodded. About five minutes later the Charlie boy came up to our table, carrying two medium-sized cups of foam-covered coffee.

"Here you go, ladies," he said sweetly as he set the cups on the table.

"Thanks, Charlie," said Vanessa as she handed him a ten-dollar-bill. "Hey, by the way, do we still have that quiz on Friday? Or did Ms. Molly move it to next Monday?"

"Nah. It's still on Friday," he answered as he pocketed the money.

Vanessa groaned.

"Yeah, I know," Charlie looked down at me and smiled. "Who's this?"

"Charlie, Nia," Vanessa gestured to me. "Nia, Charlie."

"Hey," I said, extending my hand.

Charlie gripped my hand and I was surprised at how gentle his handshake was.

"So, you're the new girl that Vanessa's been talking about," Charlie asked.

"I suppose so."

"Yeah… You know, I really like your hair. Most girls, when they wear low ponies, it makes them look plain. But you really pull it off!"

I grinned. "Well, thank you."

"And she's polite!" Charlie giggled(yes, giggled). "Isn't that sweet?"

"Yeah, it's wonderful," Vanessa laughed sarcastically.

Charlie laughed. I chuckled a bit as I leaned my elbows on the table.

"Are you always this friendly with people you've just met?" I asked.

"Of course!" Charlie put a hand on his chest. "'Treat people the way you wanna be treated.' That's what my mother always said."

I nodded. "You got a good mom."

"Aw, thank you!"

I grinned at him. Charlie turned his head to look back at the coffee counter, and that's when I noticed he had a peace sign earring in his right ear.

"Well, I better get back. Don't want the boss to see me slackin'."

"Yeah, good idea," Vanessa smirked, playfully shooing Charlie away. "Be gone, now."

Charlie scrunched his nose up, smirking at her as he turned and walked back to the counter.

"He is so sweet!" I told Vanessa.

"I know, right?" she said.

I kept my eyes on Charlie as he walked back to the counter. That's when I noticed it. The way he walked, it was almost… well, feminine. That and the way he had been acting had me wondering…

"Um…" I turned my head to look at Vanessa. "Hey, is Charlie… yah know…"

"Gay?" Vanessa nodded. "Yeah. He's gay."

"Oh," I glanced back at the counter. "That explains a lot."

"Yeah. He's always been open about it. Never told anyone he was otherwise," Vanessa put a hand on my shoulder and I looked at her. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"No!" I said quickly. "No, not at all! I don't care what he's into."

Curiously, I grabbed my cup of coffee and cautiously took a sip. I was cautious because I wasn't sure what it would taste like. I was a bit worried because whenever I had coffee all it had was a bit of cream and a packet of sweetener. But I wasn't disappointed; it tasted really good. I looked over and saw Vanessa smiling at me.

"Good. That's good."

I knew she was talking about me being okay with Charlie. At that moment a man stepped onto the stage. He was tall, lanky, and was wearing white T-shirt and a purple scarf around his neck. I think he might have been the manager, but I wasn't sure. He messed around with the microphone stand and brought the mic down to his face.

"Alright, everybody," he said loudly. "We're finally gonna start our gigs off today. Please give a warm welcome to our first act; Angus Carnell."

"Here he comes!" Vanessa squealed.

I patted her shoulder to calm her down, but I felt just as excited as she looked. I looked up at the stage and saw Angus walk on, holding his red guitar. He went up to sit in the chair on stage and moved the microphone. Another mic was placed by his guitar.

"Hey," he spoke through the mic. "So, I've never really played like this before, so bare with me. Um… Okay, this song is 'Home' by Chris Daughtry, and…I hope you like it."

"He's really nervous," Vanessa whispered to me as she drank from her coffee.

"I can tell," I whispered back.

I kept my eyes on stage as Angus got comfortable with his guitar. He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and he started to play.

"_I'm staring out into the night,  
__Trying to hide the pain  
__I'm going to the place where love  
__And feeling good don't ever cost a thing  
__And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain…_

_Well, I'm going home, to the place where I belong  
__And where your love has always been enough for me  
__I'm not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong  
__I don't regret this life I chose for me  
__But these places and these faces are getting old  
__So I'm going home…_

_The miles are getting longer, it seems  
__The closer I get to you  
__I've not always been the best man or friend to you  
__But your love remains true, and I don't know why  
__You always seem to give me another try_

_So, I'm going home, back to the place where I belong  
__And where your love has always been enough for me  
__I'm not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong  
__I don't regret this life I chose for me  
__But these places and these faces are getting old…_

_Be careful what you wish for  
_'_Cause you just might get it all  
__You just might get it all  
__And then some you don't want  
__Be careful what you wish for  
_'_Cause you just might get it all  
__You just might get it all, yeah…_

_Oh, well I'm going home, back to the place where I belong  
__And where your love has always been enough for me  
__I'm not running from, no I think you got me all wrong  
__I don't regret this live I chose for me  
__But these places and these faces are getting old  
__I said these places and these faces are getting old…_

_So I'm going home… I'm going home…_

As the song ended the shop erupted into applause. I've heard Angus sing many times by now so his singing talent was no surprise to me. But, I was still very impressed that he did it to an entire crowd that was watching and didn't mess up once. I set down my now half empty cup and started clapping along with everyone else. Angus smiled and waved before standing up and walking off the stage.

"Wasn't that something?" Vanessa squealed.

"Yeah," I said. "It was amazing."

"I know. Hey, I gotta use the restroom, I'll be right back."

Vanessa stood up and walked away. I glanced back up at the stage and saw that another performer had gone up. This one was a girl who had several sheets of paper in her hands. Maybe she was reading poetry or something? I noticed someone walking through the crowd of tables. I noticed the red guitar in his hands before I realized it was Angus.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he sat down in the only remaining chair at the table. "Where's Nessy?"

"She went to the bathroom."

Angus set his guitar down so that it leaned against his chair and turned to face me.

"So, yah like the show?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm surprised at how well you did up there in front of a crowd."

"Yeah, bit nerve wracking, but it ain't so bad. I just pretended that I was playin' in the park," Angus smiled. "Yah know, you could probably do that, Nia."

"Do what?" I asked as I grabbed my cup.

"Do what I did; sing on a stage."

I was halfway to taking a sip from my coffee when I snorted. I covered my mouth as I set my cup down.

"No way," I said, shaking my head. "Doing it in the park while people walk by is one thing. But on a stage? I'd probably faint before I could even get up there."

"Yah never know 'til yah try," Angus said simply. "And you ain't got nothin' to worry 'bout. Yah play great, yah got an amazing voice, and you're a totally awesome girl. All you need is a shot."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right…"

"I'm serious!" Angus leaned in a bit. "I mean, haven't yah ever wanted to do somethin' bigger with your music? Somethin' special?"

I looked at him for a moment before lowering my gaze to stare at my half empty coffee cup. Angus did have a point. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about taking my music somewhere where I could become somebody with it. I guess it's something that all musicians think about at least once or twice in their lives. But, with my background and my family, what could I possibly do? The only real option I could see was to leave the lair and go start a music career. Obviously, I wasn't ever going to do that. I mean, like I said, Sensei and the guys were my family- the only family I had ever known or wanted. How could I possibly leave them? Even if I did want to make a career out of my music I would never leave them.

"I have," I said. "But… I can't."

"Why not?"

I sighed. It was times like these where I wished Angus and Vanessa knew the truth about the turtles and my sensei. If they just knew about who they are they would know my situation, and then my life would be a lot easier.

"It's… complicated."

Angus didn't say anything. At that moment Vanessa came up and wrapped her arms around Angus, hugging him from behind.

"Hey, buddy!" she said happily. "You were awesome!"

Angus laughed as he hugged her back.

"Thanks."

Vanessa released him and skipped back to her own seat.

"It's a shame your folks couldn't see you up there," she said. "They would've loved it."

"Nah, s'okay," said Angus. "They had plans anyway. My mom had to go to the doctor."

"Why?" I asked. "Is she sick?"

"Kinda. She's just been throwing up a bit this week, that's all," then he laughed. "It's funny, though. She didn't want to go 'cause she couldn't find her earrings or somethin'."

He laughed again, and I laughed, too. Then Vanessa gasped.

"Ooh! That reminds me!" Vanessa scooted her chair up, her face alight with excitement. "You guys know that jewelry store that's about a block away from here? 'Jamie's Jewels'?"

"I've heard of it," I said, and Angus nodded.

"Well, the store's owner placed an order for a bunch of earring studs, because they've been running low recently."

"And?" Angus asked.

"And!" Vanessa repeated, her smile widening. "There was a big mix-up with the order, and the store's now over stocked with studs!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And that's good because…?"

"Because the store is having a free giveaway!" Vanessa squealed. "They're giving away free studs for the next two weeks!"

It now made sense as to why Vanessa was so excited. I knew that she loved earrings. She had all kinds; hoops, studs, dangling jewels, even a few that had animals on them. Even now she was wearing a pair of cute, panda bear studs.

"Well, if it's a ride you're wantin', I'll be happy to provide," Angus laughed. "But I ain't getting my ears pierced."

"I wasn't gonna make you," Vanessa defended. "Besides, there's no shame in it. Charlie has an earring."

"Yeah, well… Charlie's special."

Vanessa reached over and slapped Angus' arm. Angus laughed, and I knew he was only joking.

"Oh, and Nia?" Vanessa grinned at me. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Oh, you're gonna like this," she leaned in close. "The store's offering free piercings to help with the giveaway."

I blinked, staring at her. Was she joking? She had to be joking.

"You… you're serious?" I asked lowly.

"Yes!" she said, smiling. "And, if my memory's correct, you told us that you wanted to get your ears pierced."

That was actually true. I've always wanted pierced ears, but the opportunity never came up. Living in a sewer for half of your life will do that to you sometimes.

"Yeah, I do," I said.

"Well, I'm going to the shop this Friday," said Vanessa. "You should come with me and we can get your ears pierced."

I gasped. "Y-you really meant that?"

"Yeah, totally! And you know, I can help you pick something out. You can get your birthstone or some pearls or-"

"Hold on, hold on," I raised my hand to stop her. "That's really cool and all, but I need to get permission from my dad first."

Vanessa snapped her mouth shut as she listened to me. When I was done she smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Deal."

"You girls and your jewelry," Angus muttered, shaking his head.

Vanessa slapped his arm again and I laughed.

* * *

I was practically skipping with joy and excitement when I went through the turnstiles at the lair.

"I'm home!" I yelled, and I could hear the happiness in my voice.

"YO GIRL!" I heard Mikey yell from some unknown location- probably his room.

I laughed as I walked into the living room more. Leo was on the couch and 'Space Heroes' was on the TV. As I walked closer he turned his head to face me.

"Welcome back," he said. "How was the gig?"

"Really good. Angus is awesome," I looked around. "Hey, where's Splinter?"

"In the dojo. Why?"

"I just gotta talk to him real quick."

Leo nodded and turned back to his show. I set my skateboard down on the floor and continued on towards the dojo. I peeked my head in to look and make sure that I wasn't disrupting anything. I was in luck. Sensei was just sitting there, facing the large tree. I stepped over the threshold and cleared my throat.

"Sensei?"

Splinter turned his head towards me, and smiled.

"Ah, Lavinia," he said as he stood up from his spot and turned to face me. "I am glad to see you are back. Please, come in."

I smiled as I continued into the room. I continued walking until I stood in front of him.

"Was I disturbing you?"

"Not at all. I was simply relaxing," Sensei reassured me. "Did you have fun on the surface?"

"Yes, Sensei. I had lots of fun."

"Hm, I would imagine so. You returned later than I was told."

"Huh?"

I quickly reached into my short's pocket and pulled out my phone. It showed that I had been gone for almost three hours. I had told the guys that I would be back in two.

"Eh… oops?" I shrugged sheepishly, stuffing my phone into my pocket.

"No matter," Sensei said, waving an airy hand. "You were merely having fun, and you still came back. So, was there something you wanted?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah!" I said quickly, remembering what I wanted to tell him. "There is something I wanted to tell you."

Sensei nodded. He then sat down on his knees on the floor.

"Well, proceed."

I nodded quickly as I sat down, cross-legged.

"Okay," I started. "Well, I was just talking to Vanessa, and she said that there was a jewelry store that got an over shipment of earrings. Studs, actually."

Splinter nodded. "How unfortunate. Continue."

"Right. Anyway, Vanessa said that the store is giving away free studs to get rid of all of the extras," I clenched and unclenched my fists, feeling slightly nervous. "And, to help with that, they're offering free ear piercings to anyone who wants 'em."

Sensei raised his eyebrow. "And?"

I gulped, biting my lip for a moment. _Okay, just ask him. He could say 'yes.'_

"Sensei… I wanna get my ears pierced."

There was a few seconds silence, in which Sensei's eyes widen slightly. I continued to bite on my lip, waiting anxiously for his reply. Sensei lowered his head as he lifted his hand, stroking his beard.

"And, you truly want this?" he asked. "Once it is done, it cannot be undone."

"I know it's permanent, Sensei," I said quickly. "But… I really do want this. Actually, I've wanted this for a while, but I've never had the opportunity. Vanessa's going to get some more earring this Friday, and she said that she can take me there to go get my ears pierced. This might be my only chance."

Sensei closed his eyes, stroking his beard thoughtfully. Unconsciously, I leaned forward to look at him. _C'mon, please…_

"This is an important choice, one that I am glad you brought to me for permission," Sensei said as he opened his eyes, and I quickly leaned back. "Therefore, I shall think about it."

I blinked as I let out a breath of relief. Just the fact that he would think about it was good enough for me.

"O-okay," I said, smiling. "Okay, great! Thanks, Sensei."

Sensei nodded, smiling slightly. I bowed my head respectfully before getting up and walking away, trying desperately to keep myself from skipping. It wasn't until I was out of the dojo that I finally let it out.

"Yes!" I squealed, punching the air.

"What's up?"

I turned my head to see Raph walking up to me, Spike sitting on his shoulder.

"Funny you should ask," I beamed at him. "Guess what I might be doing this Friday?"

Raph held his chin in his hand, thinking for a moment.

"Hm, let me think," he said, and he smirked. "My guess is you'll ditch us for your humans again?"

"Ha ha," I said sarcastically. "Very funny. And, no."

Raph snorted. "Welp, then I dunno. What is it?"

"I might be getting my ears pierced!" I whispered excitedly.

Raph blinked, staring at me. Whatever he thought I was doing, it wasn't that.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Okay, and Splinter's cool with that?"

"Well, not yet," I said. "He said he'd think about it. But, hey! That's good enough for me!"

I could feel myself bouncing on my feet with excitement now. I probably looked like an idiot, but I didn't care. Raph looked me up and down, obviously noticing my idiocy, and snorted again.

"Alright alright, chill!" he reached forward and grabbed my arms to hold me still. "He hasn't said 'yes' yet."

"I know," I said, smiling. "But I really hope he does."

Raph reached up and scratched Spike's chin. I reached over and petted Spike's head, and he seemed to like that a little more.

"Hey, wanna play Slap?" Raph asked.

I chuckled. "Sure."

* * *

(Thursday)

I'm a very patient girl. Honest to God, I am. You could tell me that you had something important for me and I'll sit and wait without complaints. But, I'm pressed for time here. It's been two days since I asked Sensei if I could get my ears pierced and he hasn't said anything more about it. Normally I wouldn't be worried, but it's Thursday and Vanessa's going to the jewelry store tomorrow. I want to ask him about it again, but I'm worried that if I do he might end up saying no or something. And if he did say no I was going to be really disappointed. Not to mention a bit jealous. Vanessa was already talking about these studs that she had her heart set on and everything. She had been talking about how all of the girls from her school had been taking advantage of the giveaway and were getting free earrings. Hell, even April got some new studs the other night.

Feeling bored and wanting to put my worries aside for a bit, I decided to go hang in Donnie's lab. Usually whenever I went in there he'd be working on some kind of project or experiment, and he was always happy to let me help. Hopefully it'll distract me from my worries. When I went in this time, however, he wasn't working on a project or anything. He was sitting at his desk, typing on his computer, his eyes focused on the screen with and intense gaze.

"Hey, Donnie."

Donnie gasped lightly and looked up at me.

"Oh! Hey, Nia."

"Whatcha doin'?" I asked.

"Uh? Oh, um… n-nothing."

I raised my eyebrow, staring down at him. Donnie was grinning at me a little too much, and I could see his hands shaking in his lap. I folded my arms and cocked my hip to the side.

"What's on the computer?"

"N-nothing! Nothing at all."

I smirked at him. I could sense a desire to mess with him coming up.

"You're looking up nudes, are yah?"

Donnie blinked, spluttering as his green cheeks turned bright pink.

"Of course I'm not!"

"Oh yeah? Then show me."

"…No."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Donnie… show me."

"Nia…"

"Donatello Hamato."

Donnie gulped. I tapped my finger against my arm, waiting for him to give in. A second later he sighed and turned his laptop around for me to look. I grinned at him before walking closer to the desk. I leaned over and looked down at the screen. The website was Google, and in the search bar were the words 'how to talk to girls'.

"Oh, Donnie…"

I looked up to see Donnie had his face buried in his hands, hiding his embarrassment.

"Go ahead, say it."

I sighed, shaking my head as I put my hands on my hips.

"I just don't understand, Donnie."

"I know, I… I just…"

"I mean, why would you go to Google? Or the internet, for that matter?"

Donnie lifted his head, staring up at me.

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean, that stuff's not gonna help you," I told him as I walked over and sat at the edge of his desk. "You don't need the internet to help you talk to April."

Donnie blinked at me as he straightened up in his chair.

"Well…then what do you suggest I do?"

I rolled my eyes, groaning slightly. "Hello?! Who's better to give you advise on girls then me?"

Donnie's jaw dropped. Obviously he hadn't thought of that. It was surprising, considering he was suppose to be the smartest out of all of us.

"I… I didn't think about that," he said honestly.

"Big surprise," I said shortly.

"Well, alright then," Donnie folded his arms. "What advise do you have for me?"

I glanced at the floor as I scratched my chin, thinking for a moment. Then it hit me.

"Well?"

I ignored Donnie as I pulled out my phone and started typing in the number. I held the phone to my ear as I waited for an answer.

"…_Hello?"_

"Hey, April."

Donnie gasped, jumping to his feet and pushing his chair back. I held my finger up to tell him to keep quiet.

"_Oh, hey Nia. What's up?"_

"Oh, nothing," I said, taking a few steps away from Donnie. "Just hanging in Donnie's lab. Nothing much is going on. What about you?"

"_Just got done with homework. My English teacher gave us a worksheet at the last minute."_

"Wow, that sucks."

I looked over at Donnie, who was giving me a 'stop now' look and waving his hands around. I grinned at him and turned away.

"Yah know, you should come over and hang out."

"_Really?"_

Donnie gasped, and I heard him run around his desk and towards me. I giggled a bit as I ran backwards away from him.

"Yeah, totally! You should come over right now!"

"No!" Donnie hissed.

"_Okay, yeah. Sounds fun!"_

"I know! Oh, by the way, you know those new earrings you got the other day?"

"_The blue pearls?"_

Donnie let out an irritated grunt and leapt at me. I giggled and jumped back. He didn't stop and started running at me, arms held out to grab me.

"Yeah! You should wear those- No, you _need_ to wear them."

"_Okay, why?"_

"Nia, stop it!" Donnie snapped.

I stuck my tongue out at him and jumped up over him.

"Trust me, you need to wear them," I told April.

"_Uh, okay. I'm on my way."_

"Great! See you in a bit!"

I hung up my phone just as Donnie reached over and snatched it out of my hands. He looked down at it, saw that I hung up, and his jaw dropped.

"Nia!"

"Yes?" I said innocently, grinning at him.

"What did you _do_?"

"I just set you up," I said proudly. "You can thank me later."

"Why- You-"

Donnie paced around, spluttering in frustration. I rolled my eyes and walked up to him.

"Okay, look," I grabbed his shoulders and held him still. "Quit freaking out, alright? She's gonna be here in about 20 minutes and we're wasting time."

Donnie raised his eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

I sighed. "Dude, I just did you a favor. Now please give me back my phone and let me help you."

Donnie sighed and held my phone out. I grabbed it and put it in my pocket.

"Okay," I said. "Now, April's gonna be here soon. When she gets here she's obviously gonna say 'hi' to everyone, right?"

"Right," Donnie said lowly.

"Okay, when she gets here, don't go straight at her," I warned him. "Remember, the others are her friends, too. But, whenever she's done with them and she goes to sit on the couch or something, that's when you go in."

"And do what?"

"Talk to her!" I said in an obvious tone. "Just sit with her and try to have a conversation. And try to have one without stuttering. No offense. Lots of girls think that nervousness is adorable, but you still need to be able to talk to her without having a heart attack."

Donnie grinned sheepishly down at me.

"I-I know," he said. "It's just… every time I try to talk to her it's like my throat gets clamped up and I can't think of what to say."

"Then don't," I said. "Remember what Master Splinter told you ages ago? 'Don't think, just do'."

Donnie looked at me, eyes widened. Then he grinned a little.

"Alright, I'll try," he said. "But, what do I even talk about?"

"Remember when I told April to wear her new earrings?"

"Yeah?"

I grinned slyly.

"Talk about that. Tell her that you like them and that you think they look pretty on her."

Donnie blushed slightly, but I could tell that he got the message and agreed with it.

"Well… alright," he glanced at me. "You're amazing, Nia. And…I'm sorry I got irritated."

I reached over and patted his shoulder.

"Like I said, you can thank me later."

Donnie grinned at me, and I grinned back. I turned around and walked out of the lab. Somehow I felt immensely better. And one thing I always did when I was in a good mood was play my guitar. I still had a few songs that Angus gave me that I hadn't played that much yet, so I guess I could just go do that.

I walked past Leo and Mikey, who were sitting in the pit playing Super Mario Cart. I went down the hall of rooms and went straight for mine. I opened the door and went over to my bed. I kneeled down and reached under my bed, grabbing the handle of my guitar case. I pulled it out and opened the case. After grabbing the guitar and taking it out I reached over and grabbed the sheet music from in the case. I set the sheets on the covers as I sat down on the bed.

"Hey."

I looked up to see Raph standing in the doorway.

"Hey," I said. "What's up?"

"Bored as hell," he said as he walked in. "Other than that, nothin'."

I snorted. "Well, don't let my music bore you even more."

It was Raph's turn to snort.

"Please," he said. "If your music was boring I wouldn't be in here. What's that?"

He nodded at the sheet music laying next to me.

"Oh, it's just a couple of songs," I said. "From Angus. He gave me some sheet music to some of his favorite songs, I was just about to practice."

Raph looked at me, then down at the sheet music. Then he shrugged.

"Eh, what the hell?"

He walked in and went towards my large, yellow beanbag chair that sat against the wall opposite of my bed.

"You wanna watch me practice?"

"Why not?" he asked. "Beats sittin' out there with Fearless and the knucklehead."

I knew that he was talking about Leo and Mikey. I rolled my eyes as put the guitar strap around me.

"Did he give yah anything good?" Raph asked as I shuffled through the sheets.

"Well, there is this one song I've been practicing," I said as I took out the sheet for said song. "But I've only gotten the first half perfect."

"Eh, good enough for me."

I snorted, grinning as I turned my head to look at him.

"Good. Then that means you don't get to complain if it turns out crappy."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and play."

I chuckled and looked back at the sheets. I set them down on my left on the bed and turned to face them so that I was facing Raph. I reached into my pocket and pulled my pick out. Putting the pick to the strings, I cleared my throat and looked down at the sheet music. The first few measures were nothing but playing, and then it got to the singing. So, I started playing the music. Like I said, I got the first half down so it sounded good. Then, as the singing part started to come up, I cleared my throat and began to sing.

"_It don't matter what plans I got, I can break 'em  
__Yeah, I can turn this thing around at the next red light  
__And I don't mind telling all the guys I can't meet 'em  
__Hell, we can all go raise some hell on any other night…"_

I heard Raph chuckle, and I smiled, not looking up from the sheet.

"_Baby, I don't care, oh I just gotta see what you're wearing  
__You hair, is it pulled up or falling down?  
__Oh, I just have to see it now…_

_If you wanna call me, call me, call me  
__You don't have to worry 'bout it, baby  
__You can wake me up, in the dead of the night  
__Wreck my plans, baby, that's alright_

_This is a drop everything kinda thing  
__Swing on by, I'll pour you a drink  
__The door's unlocked, I'll leave on the light  
__Baby, you can crash my party anytime…"_

I stopped playing and looked up from the sheet music. Raph was looking at me, arms folded. Then he smirked.

"Dude, you gotta stop listening to all that country music."

I gaped at him as he sniggered.

"Bruh, what did you expect?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, the guy grew up in Montana!"

Raph hunched over and started laughing. A second later I started laughing, too. I covered my mouth as my laughter got louder and Raph snorted.

"Nia, breath!"

I nodded, taking a deep breath through my nose. I exhaled, and finally calmed down.

"My bad," I said shakily, and I could feel my face heat up a bit. "I guess I'm just in a good mood."

"When are you not in a good mood?" Raph asked shortly.

I shrugged. A second later we heard a voice coming from outside.

"I'm here!"

"April!" I heard Mikey call out.

"That was fast," I said.

"Looks like Donnie finally got her to come here," Raph said smugly.

"Actually, I invited her."

Raph looked at me, looking surprised.

"You invited her?" he asked. "Why?"

I grinned slightly as I took off my guitar strap and set the guitar on my bed.

"Well…" I looked over at him. "I kinda… invited her for Donnie."

Raph raised his eyebrow and gave me a confused look.

"You set up a play date?"

"Well, when yah put it _that_ way, yes."

"And I repeat; Why?"

I raised my brows at him.

"'Cause he needs a bit of help, and I was willing to give it to him."

Raph stood up from my beanbag chair and folded his arms.

"And you think helping him is gonna give him a better chance?" he asked, not sounding convinced.

I sighed, putting my hands on my hips as I took a step towards him.

"I know what you're thinking, Raph," I told him. "And I get why you'd think that. But… I can't honestly tell Donnie that he's got no chance if he hasn't even tried yet. And April… Well, if I can look at you guys and see you as normal, then so can she. She just needs some time, that's all."

Raph looked at me, still looking skeptical. I raised my brows, daring him to argue. I knew he wouldn't, though. Raph and I never fought. After a moment he sighed.

"Alright, whatever," he said lowly.

I grinned slightly. I knew that that was his way of apologizing. I walked over to him and threw an arm over his shoulder.

"You okay, Grumpy?"

Raph sniggered and looked over at me.

"Shut up."

I chuckled before retracting my arm and walking over to my door. I walked out and made my way to the living room. Mikey and Leo were still in front of the TV, but they didn't appear to be playing games.

"Just one more round!" Mikey begged. "Please, please, _please_…!"

"Alright!" Leo shouted over his brother.

I laughed. I looked over at the other end of the pit and saw April and Donnie sitting on the couch. I was surprised when I saw April giggle. Not wanting to intrude but wanting to know what they were saying, I slowly wandered over in their direction.

"So, you just got two sets?" Donnie asked, pointing at April's ears.

"Yeah," she reached up and touched her right ear. "I got these and a pair of green diamonds."

They were talking about her earrings. _Good boy, Donnie. _April paused for a moment.

"You like 'em?" she asked.

"Donnie blinked, his jaw hanging open slightly.

"Wha-Me? Oh, I-I…uh…"

_Oh boy…_ I thought worriedly. Donnie shook his head, cleared his throat, and grinned.

"Yeah, I like 'em," he said, his voice normal again. "They… look pretty on you."

April blinked, looking surprised at his answer. A second later she smiled sweetly at him, and I could almost make out a slightly pinkish tinge on her cheeks that wasn't there before. I beamed. _That a boy, Don! _Then, my phone started buzzing in my shorts pocket.

_**Baby, you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down, and cruise…**_

_Angus. _I pulled out my phone and answered.

"Hey, Angus."

"_Hey, Nia. What's up?"_

"Eh, nothin' much. You?"

"_Same, I guess. Hey, listen, Nessy and I were just about to go out and eat. Yah wanna come?"_

"Oh, um…"

I paused for a moment. We had already done our training for the day and Sensei did say that we were free for the rest of the day. I also remembered him saying that if I was ever called to go out with Angus and Vanessa that I could go as long as I left a time where I would be back.

"Yeah, sure," I said. "Where do you wanna meet up?"

"_Well, we can meet at your place. How's that sound?"_

"Uh…" I gulped. "Nah, that's… that's okay. Look, I'll text you where to meet me, and I'll see you guys in a bit. 'Kay?"

"_Alright. See yah."_

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and put it in my pocket. I looked up and saw Raph standing there, smirking at me.

"You're goin' out again, aren't yah?" he said shortly.

I shrugged. "Yeah…"

He rolled his eyes. "Alright, how long?"

"Two, maybe three hours," I reached down and undid my new kama belt. "I should definitely be here by three hours, though."

I tossed my belt and it landed on the couch. I pulled my mask down over my face and tucked it under the collar of my hoodie. I felt happy that I took my kneepads and elbow pads off earlier.

"Do me a solid, tell Sensei that I left," I asked Raph.

"Sure thing," he said.

I undid the strapped sheath on my right calf, taking my tessen out before tossing the sheath on the couch next to my belt. I tucked the tessen into my deep shorts pocket as I walked around Raph.

"Bye, guys!"

A round of 'byes' and 'see yahs' answered me. I reached back and pulled my hood over my head as I jumped over the turnstiles.

* * *

After leaving the lair I went to the nearest manhole cover and went out onto the surface. Once out I texted Angus the details of where I was, still near the cover I had come out of. He replied to me and told me that he and Vanessa would be on their way. Now I stood in the alley, my back leaning against the wall, listening to music on my T-Phone. I was just listening to my playlist of 'Three Days Grace', one of my favorite bands, when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I pulled out one of my earbuds as I turned my head, and there stood Vanessa and Angus.

"Hey, Nia!" she said happily, reaching up and tugging my hood playfully.

"Hey," I said, smiling as I pulled out my other earbud and tucked the set into my pocket with my phone. "Glad you found me."

"Well, it wasn't exactly easy," she said simply

"Why'd yah wanna meet us here?" Angus asked, eyeing the alley with a suspicious look.

"Oh, it's close to my home," I said, glancing back at the manhole cover for a brief second.

Vanessa giggled before coming forward and hugging me. I hugged her back, and I noticed something. A scent of citrus in the air.

"Are you wearing perfume?" I asked.

"Yep! Just got it last week," Vanessa released me and looked at Angus. "Welp, let's go! Any ideas?"

"'Antonio's', maybe?" Angus suggested.

"Actually," I said, a though coming to my head. "There's this awesome noodle place me and my brothers like to go to. 'Murakami's Noodle Shop'. Have you guys been there yet?"

"I've heard of it," said Angus. "But I ain't been there yet."

"Me neither," said Vanessa.

I grinned. "Trust me, you guys will love it."

With a location set in mind, we all left the alley and began heading out. Since I was the only one of the three of us that had actually been there I was in-between them, leading the way.

"So, what's been going on with you two?" I asked, tucking my hands into the pockets of my hoodie.

"Eh, school, chores, baby brother," Vanessa said nonchalantly. "Nothing too special."

"Figures. What about you, Angus? Is your mom still sick?"

"Oh, that," Angus chuckled and shook his head. "Nah, she ain't sick."

"You mean, not anymore?" Vanessa asked.

"No, I mean, she was never sick in the first place."

I raised my eyebrows. "The other day you said that she went to the doctor because she was throwing up."

"She was, and she did," Angus said, still grinning slightly. "But, she wasn't sick."

It was then that I stopped in my tracks. The other two stopped as well, looking at me. I stood there, staring at Angus as I worked to put the pieces together. Then it came to me.

"Dude…is your mom pregnant?" I asked.

Angus stopped grinning and started beaming, and nodded. I gasped as Vanessa jumped and squealed.

"You ass!" she snapped, punching Angus' arm. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Angus shrugged slightly, and I was surprised to see his cheeks going slightly pink.

"I wanted to tell both of y'all," he said as he rubbed his arm where Vanessa had punched him. "I wanted to see both of your reactions. Totally worth it, too."

Vanessa squealed again as she spun around before launching herself at him and giving him a hug. My mouth was hanging open as I beamed at Angus. All this time he had told us that he had always wanted a little sibling- a baby sister, to be specific- and now it was actually happening. I was still beaming at him as Vanessa released him.

"Angus, that's amazing!" I said, and before I could help myself I ran forward and hugged him.

Angus laughed joyfully and hugged me back. It was the first hug I had ever shared with him, and it was nice. It was much different than hugging someone who had plastron on their chest and a shell on their back, to say the least. Not that those weren't nice, too.

"Thanks," Angus said as he released me.

"How far along is she?" Vanessa asked excitedly.

"Only a month," he said. "We're not sure if it's a boy or girl yet. She won't find out for a while."

I looked up at his face, at his crooked grin that exposed his teeth, and I could tell that he felt like the happiest boy on earth.

"Well, now we gotta celebrate!" I said enthusiastically.

We all started walking again, me still in the lead. We continued to talk as we went down the street, mostly about Angus and his mom's pregnancy. Vanessa seemed so enthusiastic about it. Not just his mom's baby, but babies in general.

"I mean, the idea of a tiny, little life growing inside you…!" Vanessa shivered with apparent delight. "It sounds magical!"

"Yeah," Angus snorted, smirking. "Magic. _That's_ how it happened."

Vanessa gasped as I burst into laughter.

"You're a perv!" she said as she slapped his arm, but I could see her trying to hide her smile. "Well, you both know what I mean. Oh, I can't wait to have kids someday."

"Who says you gotta wait?" Angus said, still smirking. "You can join the 5% of girls at school who decided not to wait."

I hunched over, laughing and snorting. Even Vanessa was laughing at that.

"What about you, Nia?" Vanessa asked when she stopped laughing. "What's your opinion on kids?"

I calmed down a bit and straightened up as we continued to walk down the sidewalk.

"I dunno," I said honestly. "I'm only 15, so-"

"Yeah, but I'm only 16," Vanessa said. "And I know I want kids someday. What about you?"

I thought about that. Me, with kids? It was hard to believe. One; because I was still only 15 years old. Two; I couldn't see it as a possibility. In order to have kids, I'd have to find a man to fall in love with. Now, that part seemed possible, but if I did have a serious relationship with anyone, I'd eventually have to show him to the guys and to Sensei. Anything else after that would determined whether or not kids were in the future. But- and maybe it was just the hopeful girl in me- I did think it would be nice to have at least one kid someday. Maybe I could adopt, just like Sensei did with the boys.

"…Maybe," I said finally. "It sounds lovely, but it's a huge responsibility."

"Yeah, good thing we ain't gotta worry 'bout that for a long time," said Angus.

"Oh, by the way," Vanessa turned to look at me. "Did your dad ever say whether or not you could come with me tomorrow?"

I shook my head. "No. I think I'm gonna ask him when I get back."

"Yeah. Yah know, I heard that they got some earrings that you can get your initials engraved on."

"That's cool," I said. "But I bet those cost a bit more."

"Yep. Plus, you gotta tell them your first and last name, and seeing as how you won't even tell us that…"

"Well, it's not exactly my fault."

I mumbled this under my breath, but apparently it wasn't quiet enough.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"Uh…what?" I asked, trying to sound like I didn't know what she meant.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" she asked again. "What's your Maiden name? Your family's name?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but stopped. I felt frozen. What could I say? I honestly didn't know my last name. Even though I was technically Splinter's adoptive child, I often felt that I was more of a goddaughter than anything. For some reason I just couldn't speak, or even move, and I ended up stopping in my tracks. The other two stopped two, and they stared at me.

"Nia, what's wrong?" Angus asked.

But before I could answer I saw something move out the corner of my eye. I turned my head and looked into the alley that we had stopped by. I raised my brow. I was about to turn my head back to the other two when I saw something again. It looked almost like a shadow moved across the wall. Now curious, I turned to face the alley and started walking into it.

"Nia, what are you doing?" Vanessa asked, sounding very confused.

"Stay back for a sec," I told them.

"What-" Angus started.

"Just stay there."

I walked further into the alley, taking long, slow steps. I reached up and pulled my hood off my head, and my eyes narrowed as I looked around. I could practically feel someone's gaze on me. I looked up around the alley, trying to find some sign of someone being there. I could feel a presence there, and I had a nasty feeling that it wasn't friendly.

"Guys," I called back. "I need you to go hide, now."

"What are yah talkin' about?" Angus said, sounding irritated.

"Just do it!" I snapped.

Vanessa started to say something, but she trialed off and suddenly yelped. I didn't have time to ask why. I saw movement from up above and saw figures up on the roof ledges. It was dark, but I could see them perfectly. It was a pack of Foot ninjas. I gasped, my fears now confirmed. The second I laid my eyes on them, the group jumped down from the roof and into the alley, landing in a circle all around me. I whipped my head around, looking at them all. There couldn't be more than eight around me. It shouldn't be much of a problem to take them down, but if they went for my friends…

"Angus! Vanessa! Get down!" I shouted at them.

I heard their footsteps as they scurried away. I looked ahead of me and glared at the ninjas in front of me. I reached up slowly and took my mask out from underneath my collar. I pulled it up over my face and placed it where it belonged. I raised my head to glare at the Foot, and somehow I felt braver.

"You guys wanna fight?" I reached into my pocket, pulled out my tessen, and opened it. "Fine. Let's fight."

The ninjas all pulled out their weapons; I saw several katanas, kamas, nagnitas, and a few other weapons. I glanced around, looking for any sign of which one would attack first. I inhaled deeply through my nose, then exhaled through my mouth. _Focus, Nia…_

Suddenly, a ninja from my right charged at me. He raised his kama just as I threw my tessen. It hit him in the face and knocked him down, sending his kama flying. My tessen came flying back to me and I caught it. But just as I grabbed it I heard movement from behind me. Instantly I jumped up and did a backflip, going over the pair of ninjas that had come at me. I landed in a crouched position and turned my head around. One of them threw throwing stars at me, and I dodged. I leapt up as I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a few of my own stars. I threw them and they hit two in their legs, crippling them. One jumped over the two and ran at me, katana raised. My eyes narrowed as I spread my legs, ready to move. Just as he swung his katana down at me, I spun around to my right. I then reared my arm up and brought the end of my tessen down on the soldiers' head, hard. He fell down, unconscious. I turned around to face the remaining four.

"Who's next?" I said lowly, daring one of them to come at me.

A ninja with a kusarigama chain ran up to me, spinning the chain above his head. He threw it at me, and I lifted my hand to grab it. Keeping a tight grip on it, I jumped up into the air and then landed on the ninja, knocking him down. I snatched the chain from his grasp, spun it above my head, and flung it out. It wrapped around the wrist of a ninja who had his nagnita raised in the air. I yanked the chain hard, which caused him to be pulled forward and fall to the ground. The remaining two charged at me from both sides. I yanked the chain up before jumping into the air, somersaulting over them. Once I landed behind them I spun around and flung the chain over them, pinning them together. I tightened the chain before spinning around and kicking them back. They flew forward and landed in a heap along with their fellows.

I lowered my arms and straightened up, breathing slightly heavily as I closed my tessen and slipped it into my pocket. Still breathing heavily, I turned my head to face the end of the alley that lead to the road.

"Angus?" I called out, and my voice was surprisingly calm. "Vanessa?"

"Here!"

Both of them poked their heads out from the left side of the alley. I sighed with relief. They looked around the alley before running towards me. When they got closer and saw the group of Foot soldiers on the ground they skidded to a halt, and Vanessa gasped.

"Nia!" she shrieked. "Did-did you take all these guys out?!"

I gulped. Really, there was no way out of this.

"Yeah…"

Both of their jaws dropped as they stared at me.

"Hon, what's with the mask?" she asked, staring at my face.

I lifted my hand to touch the mask on my face.

"It's… well, um…"

"Nia, what the hell is goin' on?" Angus demanded. "Who are these guys?"

"They're very dangerous people," I told him, turning around to face the pile of ninjas. "And I really hoped that you wouldn't ever meet them."

"What are you talking about?" Vanessa asked fearfully.

I stared down at the still unconscious group. I was surprised that they were still down. Even with the group so small this fight had been easy. Too easy. My eyes narrowed, and I walked over towards the unconscious pile.

"Nia, what're you doing?!" Vanessa hissed.

I ignored her and continued on. I kneeled down by a nearby soldier and examined him. There had to be a reason as to why these guys didn't put up a good enough fight. Suddenly, I noticed a small patch on the nearby ninja's sleeve. I slowly reached forward and pulled it up. I blinked when I saw the small, dark symbol.

"Ashigaru-sha."

"What?" the other two asked.

"Ashigaru-sha," I repeated, straightening up on my knees. "It's Japanese for "cannon fodder." They were warriors who were seen as expendable soldiers. In traditional Japanese warfare, they would be sent out to waste the enemy's ammunition and set off traps before…"

My voice trialed off as realization washed over me. My mouth hung open slightly, a feeling of horror creeping up on me.

"…before the real soldiers came."

"What are you talkin' 'bout?" Angus asked.

I didn't answer her; my mouth was frozen along with the rest of me. I let out a shaky breath that I didn't know that I had been holding as I sprang to my feet. I lifted my head as I looked up at the ledges of the alley.

"We have to go," I said urgently.

"Nia, we need some answers here!" said Vanessa.

"We have to go right now!"

I whipped around and ran forward, grabbing their wrists and pulling them with me. They stumbled and shouted for me to slow down and let go, but I didn't. It wasn't until we had run about a block and a half that I finally let go of their wrists, but I didn't slow down. Still running, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my T-Phone. I scrambled around my contacts until I found Leo's number. I pressed it and lifted it to my ear as I looked up at the rooftops of the buildings we ran passed.

"C'mon!" I begged as I listened to the ringing.

* * *

**Leo's P.O.V.**

I stretched out my arms as I walked over and sat on the couch. I had just gotten done with another round of Super Mario Cart with Mikey. Of course, Mikey had won. He still wanted to play though, so he asked Raph to take my place. He said he would, but only if he could have Player 1.

"I wish Nia would hurry up," Mikey said glumly as he gave Raph the Player 1 controller. "She doesn't care if she's Player 2."

"She's out with her friends, Mikey," I told him as I picked up the remote. "She'll be back in 2 hours."

"Yeah, so quit whinin'," Raph said firmly.

Mikey frowned at him, eyes narrowed. I rolled my eyes as I turned on the TV. I was just about to change the channel- 'Space Heroes' should be on right now- when my phone rang it's retro ringtone. The caller ID told me that it was Nia. I pressed the answer button.

"Hey Nia, how's it-"

"_Leo! You and the guys have to get out here! Now!"_

I blinked in surprise. Nia had spoken really fast and shakily, like she was out of breath. I frowned in confusion. What was she talking about?

"Nia, slow down. What's wrong?"

"_We're being chased, Leo! I got ambushed by some Foot soldiers!"_

"What?!"

I sprang to my feet as I shouted. Raph and Mikey stared up at me.

"_I got ambushed, Leo! It was a trap. But it was just a bunch of Ashigaru-sha. There's more Foot coming for us right now."_

"'Us?'" I repeated. "Nia, are Vanessa and Angus still with you?"

"_Yes! I couldn't just ditch 'em! Leo, you have to…"_

Suddenly, I heard her gasp on the other line.

"Nia? You there?"

"Dude, what's goin' on?" Mikey asked, but I ignored him.

"Nia, what's wrong?"

"_They found us…"_

I inhaled sharply as I felt my blood run cold.

"Nia, where are you?"

"_We're at Central Park," _she panted. _"We're in the Conservatory Garden, near the Italianate center. Jesus… you gotta get out here, now!"_

"I know," I said. "But Nia, if Angus and Vanessa see us-"

"_Leo, please! I need you!"_ she cried. _"There's too many of them, I can't do this on my own!"_

It was then that I froze up. Nia had never sounded so frightened before. I hadn't heard that much fear in her voice since we were 8 years-old. I had to do something. It didn't matter if Angus and Vanessa saw us. Nia was in danger and needed our help. She was right; she couldn't do this alone.

"Nia, listen to me," I said firmly. "Do not face them alone, you understand? You run, you hide, and you stay far away from them for as long as you can. If you have to face some of them, fine, but _do not _face all of them alone."

"_I won't. Please hurry, Leo!"_

She hung up. I lowered the phone, my eyes on the ground. This was something I had been afraid of since Nia had first gone out with her friends. She had been ambushed by our enemy, outnumbered and unprepared, _and_ she was miles away from us. _Leo, please! …I can't do this alone!_

"Leo, what's wrong?"

Raph's voice snapped me back into reality. I lifted my head and looked at him and Mikey, who were both standing and staring at me.

"We have to go!" I ordered. "Nia's in trouble."

"Whoa, dude. What?"

I ignored Mikey and turned my head to face Donnie's lab.

"Donnie! Get out here!"

I heard the sound of footsteps before both Donnie and April poked their heads out of his lab.

"Leo, what's wrong?" he asked.

"It's Nia," I said, and I spoke very quickly. "She's in trouble. She's been ambushed by the Foot."

"What?!" Raph yelled.

"She just called me. She's trying to loose them in Central Park. And… Angus and Vanessa are still with her."

For a few seconds everyone was frozen, completely silent.

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Raph snapped. "Let's go!"

I nodded. "Donnie, Nia said she was in the Conservatory Garden somewhere near the Italianate center. Do you think you can track her?"

"Yeah," Donnie said, and his voice was faint and shaky before he cleared his throat. "Yeah, if her phone's still on I can find her."

"Good," I straightened up. "Then let's move. We don't have a lot of time."

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

Whoever had the idea to put so many giant bushes in this park, bless them.

"Just stay here," I whispered quickly, pushing Vanessa into the huge flower bush until she was curled up by the center. "Steady your breathing and don't make a sound."

"B-But…" she stuttered, fear in her voice. Even under the shadow of the bush I could see tears on her cheeks.

"Vanessa, you stay," I said firmly. "Angus is only a few bushed behind you, okay? Listen, I'm gonna lead the Foot away from you guys. If I'm not back in an hour, you both leave without me. Angus will come and get you when the hour's up, but you better leave without me."

"Nia…"

I patted her shoulder before slipping out from under the bush.

"Remember, not a sound."

I stood up and backed away from the bush. I looked out into the park, searching for the Foot. Then, I heard it. Soft, fast footsteps, like several people were running. I took a deep breath before turning around and running forward. I had no idea where to go, but I did know that I had to get as far away from the other two as possible. I must've been running for about five minutes before a voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Nia!"

I skidded to a halt, my feet slipping on the damp grass. I whipped my head around to look into the darkness. I could see someone running towards me. The light from a nearby pole light helped me see who it was.

"Angus!" I hissed angrily. "What're you doing?"

"What's it look like?" he said, his drawl sounding much sharper. "I'm helpin' yah!"

"Get back to the bushes! Now!"

"No, you're gonna be outnumbered here-"

"I can handle it!" I snapped. "Angus, these aren't just a bunch of punks looking for a fight. They're dangerous ninjas! Their trained to kill!"

"Well, I can't just sit back and let you get killed!"

"Angus, it's too dangerous! You need to…"

But I stopped talking. My eyes met an image from behind Angus. A Foot soldier hiding in the shadows of the trees. Then I noticed there was more than one. There were many more, all of which were surrounding us.

"Angus, get behind me," I said quietly.

"What-"

"Get behind me!"

Ignoring his stunned and confused expression, I stomped forward to stand in front of him. I took out my tessen and opened it.

"C'mon, guys," I muttered, looking around. "Where are you?"

I heard swift movement from in front of me and I saw a soldier running forward, heading straight for me. My eyes narrowed as I crouched slightly, ready for anything that came my way. The soldier leapt up into the air, raising his katana. Then, from some undesignated area, I heard a familiar battle cry.

"BOOYAKASHA!"

Suddenly, a kusarigama chain shot out of the darkness. It wrapped around the Foot soldier and yanked him down to the ground before he was dragged back into the shadows. I heard some loud noises that sounded like punches being delivered, and a wave of relief swept over me as I felt a smile grow on my face. My brothers had come.

"Mikey?"

I saw his figure leap up from the darkness, do a cartwheel in the air, and land in a crouched position. Michelangelo looked up at me, his baby blue eyes wide with surprise and relief.

"Nia!"

A second later three more figures seemed to fall from the sky and land in front of me and Angus. It was Leo, Raph, and Donnie.

"Guys!" I said, happy to see them again.

"Nia, are you alright?" Leo asked urgently as he withdrew his katanas.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Hey Nia! Heads up!"

Raph tossed me a mass of black leather that I recognized as my new belt, kamas included.

"Sweet!"

I tucked my tessen into my pocket as I quickly slipped on my belt. I pulled out my kamas, tossed them up, and caught them again in my hands.

"This is more like it!"

"N-Nia…?"

I looked around at Angus, and saw him staring openmouthed at the guys.

"I'll explain later, Angus."

"Nia, you stay with Angus and keep him safe," Leo ordered. "We'll cover you."

"Got it!"

"Alright, ninjas! Let's do this!"

At once the boys all leapt forward, weapons in hand, ready for a fight.

"Angus, stay behind me," I told him seriously.

Angus was either too stunned or confused to answer, because he didn't say anything. I glanced at him before leaping forward, kamas held high. A Foot soldier ran straight towards me, holding his tanto above his head. I ran at him, holding my kamas up. The soldier swung his tanto at me and I blocked it with my left kama. I spun around and swung my right kama down, and he blocked it. I reared my knee up and kneed him in the torso, and he fell back. I heard running from behind me and turned in time to block the oncoming manriki chain that came out at me. It wrapped around the handle of my right kama and the ninja yanked on it. I reached into my pocket and threw some shuriken. They hit him in the legs and his grip loosened. I ran forward, jumped up, and knocked him in the head with the end of my kama.

"Nia, watch out!" Mikey yelled.

I whipped my head around before I felt something knock into me and knock me to the ground. I looked up just as a Foot soldier stepped on my chest, pinning me down. He raised his katana in the air as I reached out and grabbed my kama. I lifted it up and blocked the blow just in time. A second later Raph came up and kicked the ninja off of me, sending him back several feet.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said as I jumped up to my feet.

Raph looked behind me, glared, and shot forward at the soldier that was apparently coming up behind me. I looked forward and held both of my kamas up again. Two soldiers started running at me, one with a set of kamas and the other with a nagnita. I stood still and waited for them to come at me. At the last second I jumped up just as they swung at me. I landed behind them, reared around, and kicked the one with the kamas in his head. He fell down as his buddy turned to face me. He swung his nagnita at me and I ducked. I grabbed his wrist, twisted it back, and punched him in the face. He stumbled a bit before I swung my feet under him and knocked him down.

"'Ey, get off me!"

I whipped my head around and gasped. Angus was on the ground, a Foot soldier hunched over him.

"Hey!" I shouted.

The ninja turned his head to look at me. I threw my right kama at him and it headed straight for his head. The ninja grabbed it, but that gave me enough time to run at him and deliver a spinning back-kick to his head. He fell back, his katana and my kama flying out of his hands. I turned back around to see Angus still sitting on the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I quickly went over to help him up.

"Y-yeah," he cleared his throat as he got to his feet. "I-I'm okay…"

"Dude, I'm so sorry," I said worriedly, looking him up and down for injuries. "I should've been paying more attention."

"Nah, you're fine."

After seeing that he wasn't hurt I bent down and picked my kama off the ground and looked around. It seemed that the others had taken care of the other soldiers. Ninjas were scattered on the ground, some unconscious, others barley stirring. I looked up from the pile of Foot to look up at the four turtles standing amongst them.

"Guys…"

Upon looking at them I realized that I had never been so relieved to see them. And after looking at all of them, my eyes fell onto my blue-banded leader. I slipped my kamas into my new belt before running forward towards Leo. He had just managed to put his katanas into their sheaths and turn around before I lunged at him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stumbled a bit at the force I hit him with, but I didn't care.

"I knew you guys would come," I said loud enough for the other three to hear me.

I felt Leo relax before he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me back.

"Of course we came," he said as he rubbed my back. "We couldn't leave you like this, you know that."

I squeezed him a bit before leaning back, dropping my arms from his shoulders. A second later Mikey ran at me and tackled me to the ground, hugging me so tightly that I almost couldn't breath.

"You scared us, Nia!" he cried, his voice innocent and trembling. "We thought we wouldn't make it!"

"Mikey!" I said, half choking, half laughing. "It's okay, I'm fine!"

"Let her breath, Mike," Donnie told him, and he looked incredibly relieved as well.

Mikey squeezed me tightly before he released me and pulled me to my feet.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "You hurt? Do you have a broken bone? Are you-"

"Mikey, I'm okay!" I said loudly. "Honestly!"

Mikey blinked a few times before sighing, and smiling. I smiled at him as I looked at them all.

"Guys, I can't thank you enough. I-"

But I was cut off by a loud splutter from behind us. I looked around to see Angus standing a few feet away from us. He was staring at us with wide eyes, his jaw open. _Oh… right…_

"Okay, Angus, don't freak out," I said calmly as I approached him. "Just stay calm…"

"But…" Angus shook his head. "Nia… what are they?"

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but frown at him.

"I think you mean '_who _are they?'"

"Well, _who_ are they?" Angus asked more urgently.

"Dude, chill," Mikey said in his usual chill voice. "We're not that scary. We're cool!"

"Not now, Mikey," I told him. "Listen, I promise that I can-"

"Wait, wait…" Angus took a step forward. "Did you just…call him Mikey?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Angus' eyes narrowed. "Didn't… didn't yah say that one of your brothers' names was Mikey?"

"Aw, dudette!" Mikey cooed. "You told him about us?"

"Well, yeah," I said, feeling my face heat up slightly. "Obviously, I didn't tell him everything…"

"Nia," Angus cut in. "Are… are these…"

I sighed as I gestured to the guys.

"Angus, these are the guys I told you and Vanessa about. Their my…" suddenly realization came over me, and I gasped. "Angus, where's Vanessa?"

Angus' jaw dropped even more as a look of horror came over his face.

"I left her in the bushes…"

"C'mon!" I said.

I turned around and ran forward, Angus and my bros right behind me. I continued running until I came back to the large group of flower bushes that I had originally left Angus and Vanessa in.

"Vanessa?" I called out.

"Nessy, where are yah!" Angus called loudly.

"Split up," said Leo. "Keep an eye out for her."

I went forward towards the bushes and looked around, trying to remember which one I left Vanessa at. As I went further in I thought I could smell her citrus perfume amongst the sent of the many flowers. Then, just as I passed a bush I noticed a small sparkle from underneath the shadows. I stepped back and looked down, and received a shock when I saw that the sparkle had come from a familiar silver wrist watch.

"I found her!" I called out.

I heard several pairs of feet running in my direction as I kneeled beside the bush and looked underneath. It was Vanessa. She was still curled up by the bushes root, and her eyes were closed. I quickly reached forward and grabbed her by her underarms before I dragged her out from under the bush. Once she was completely out I hunched over her and looked down at her. Her curly black hair was messy and had some leaves stuck in it, and there was some dirt on her face, but other than that she seemed unharmed. I reached up and pressed my fingers to her neck. I could feel a pulse; she was alive.

"Nessy!"

I looked up to see Angus slide down onto his knees and lean over Vanessa, looking down at her with concern.

"Is… is she…?"

"She's alive," I told him.

I looked up at the others, who were standing there and looking down at us.

"Donnie," I said. "Can you see if she's alright?"

"Yeah, I can."

Donnie stepped forward and kneeled down by Vanessa's head. He had just reached forward when Angus snapped his head at him, eyes narrowed. Donnie noticed this and gulped.

"I'm not gonna hurt her," he said. "I promise."

Angus stared at him for a few moments, not saying a word. Then he sighed and gave a stiff nod. Donnie reached forward and gently grabbed Vanessa's face. He turned her head slightly to the left and to the right as he examined her. He lifted her eyelid and looked into her eye.

"She's fainted," he said as he released her. "She probably just got over excited."

I sighed. _Thank God._

"We need to get outta here," Leo said seriously. "There could be more Foot on the way. Donnie, where's the nearest manhole?"

Donnie reached into his belt and took out his T-Phone. He pressed a few buttons and the screen lit up.

"About 30ft from the park entrance, just across the street."

Leo nodded. "Then we better get going."

I looked over at Angus, who was looking down at Vanessa as though she was on her deathbed.

"Angus, you think you can carry her?" I asked.

Not looking at me, Angus nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

I patted his shoulder before I stood up. Angus brought his arms around Vanessa's form before he stood up, now carrying her bridal-style.

"Let's move, team!" Leo ordered.

We all turned and started moving quickly out of the mess of flower bushes. I quickly went past the others and caught up to Leo.

"Man, Splinter's not gonna like this," he said lowly. "Bringing one human to the lair is one thing, but two?"

"Don't worry, Leo," I assured him. "Everything's gonna be fine, trust me."

"Easy for you to say. I'm gonna have to explain all of this and-"

"No."

Leo turned to stare at me, still running. "What?"

"I said 'no,'" I said firmly. "This is my fault, Leo. Vanessa and Angus were put in danger because I was with them. I'll tell Sensei; I'll take the blame. And if I'm punished, well… I guess it's the least that I deserve."

Leo stared at me, looking stunned and confused. Me and him didn't say another word as we all continued to head for the garden's exit.

* * *

I was so happy and relieved to finally be home. I could tell that the boys were happy as well. Angus, however, was surprised.

"You live in a sewer?" he asked as we neared the entrance to our home.

"Yeah, dude, I live in a sewer," I said smartly. "A cool, decked out sewer, but a sewer nonetheless."

Angus gave me a look that suggested that living in a sewer was the last thing he would ever do. When we passed the turnstiles and entered the lair, however, his looked changed to one of awe.

"Damn…" he said lowly, looking all around the place.

"Like I said," I grinned. "It's cool and decked out."

We all went further into the living room. April was sitting on the far end of the couch. Her head shot up when she noticed us and she leapt to her feet.

"Guys!"

She ran forward towards us, and I was slightly surprised when she went at Donnie first, hugging him around the neck. He patted her back as she released him.

"What happened?" she asked, and she noticed Angus holding the unconscious Vanessa. "Who are they?"

"These are Nia's friends," said Leo. "The ones she's been seeing for ages."

Donnie went past us and went for the couch, moving the game controllers and magazines off the cushions.

"Come on, set her over here," he told Angus.

"Right," he said.

I watched as Angus brought Vanessa over into the pit and set her on the couch, being very gentle with her head. I sighed.

"Well, I guess I better go tell Sensei the news," I said glumly.

I walked past the boys as I headed for the dojo. It was then that I noticed my hands were shaking and my palms were slightly sweaty. I was nervous about this. Usually this was Leo's job. But like I said before, tonight was my fault and I should take the blame for it. But I was still nervous. What if Splinter got mad? What if he punished me? What if he forbids me from seeing Angus and Vanessa again, or- I shuddered at the thought- what if he never let me go to the surface again?

I stepped onto the threshold of the dojo and looked around. Sensei wasn't in here. Perhaps he was in his room?

"Sensei?" I called out. "It's me. Are you in here?"

A second later the door to Splinter's room slid open. He stood there, looking around before he spotted me. It was then that I saw the look of worry and pure relief in his eyes.

"My daughter…"

Sensei ran forward and before I knew it his arms were around me in a tight, comforting embrace. I hugged him back, and for the slightest moment all of my worries were gone. I was home, my friends were alive, and my father was relieved and happy to see me alive. And yet, a twinge of guilt gripped at my heart as I hugged him more.

"I'm sorry, Sensei," I said quietly, though I knew he could hear me. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gone out tonight. I…I should've asked, I…"

"It is alright, my child," Sensei said gently, stroking the back of my head with his hand. "You are home now, and that is all that matters."

I smiled, sniffing slightly as I leaned back. Sensei smiled down at me, pulling my bangs away from my face to look at me.

"Now, tell me what happened."

And before I knew it I was off, explaining everything that happened from the time I left the lair, to the time the guys showed up to help me.

"They came just in time, Sensei," I said, feeling a bit breathless from my rant. "I don't know how I could've gotten Angus out of there if it weren't for them."

"Angus?" Sensei asked, sounding slightly serious all of a sudden. "You mean, he saw your brothers?"

I gulped. I was afraid of this part, and I felt some of my nervousness starting to come back to me.

"Yeah…" I said lowly.

"What happened after the battle?"

"We went back to find Vanessa. I left her in one of the bushes, too. She's passed out, but alright. We… we…" I gulped again, took a deep breath, and the truth came out quickly before I could stop it. "We brought Angus and Vanessa back to the lair."

I flinched as I turned my head and closed my eyes, ready for the explosion. It didn't come. Seconds passed and I opened my eyes. Sensei was looking down at me, his expression neutral. He didn't seem mad at all.

"Hm, I see," he said lowly. "But, I wonder, why didn't Leonardo come and tell me this. As leader, it is his job to tell me what goes on in your lives while you are on the surface."

I straightened up a bit as I looked up at him. Was he not mad? Did he not care that two other humans were in his home?

"Well?"

"Because…" I sighed. "Because, I told him not to. Tonight was my fault, Sensei. Angus and Vanessa were put into harm's way because of me. So, I thought that I should take responsibility and deal with the consequences."

Sensei closed his eyes and lifted his hand to stroke his beard.

"Hm, indeed…"

I bit my bottom lip as I waited patiently for some other response. _Please don't blow up, please don't blow up… _I thought worriedly. Sensei opened his eyes and released his beard as he walked forward, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"And that, Lavinia, is why you are the most mature of all my children, and why I am proud of you."

And with that, he lowered his hand and walked around me. I blinked in confusion, not quite sure what just happened.

"Are you coming?" I heard him ask, and I turned to look at him.

"Sensei?"

He smiled. "I think it is time your friends had an explanation as to where you come from and who you are."

"Oh… right."

I walked forward. Sensei waited for me before turning and exiting the dojo. _Okay, _I told myself. _Here we go._ I looked over at the pit and saw April, Donnie, Leo and Raph were still standing. Angus was sitting by Vanessa's head, and Mikey was kneeling in front of her on the floor. That's when I noticed something strange. Even from his distance I could tell that Mikey was surveying her, his baby blue eyes filled with intense, but innocent curiosity.

"When is she gonna wake up?" he asked, not looking away from her.

"I'm not sure," said Donnie. "It could 10 minuets, could be an hour. All we can do is wait."

Mikey didn't respond, but tilted his head slightly as he continued to look at Vanessa's face. He didn't just look interested, he looked oddly fascinated.

"Whatcha staring at, Mikey?" I asked as I walked over.

"Just her," he said simply, not looking at me.

"Uh…why?" Angus asked.

"Just 'cause."

"Don't worry," I whispered to Angus. "He's always like this."

He nodded. "Yah know, I believe yah."

Suddenly I heard him inhale sharply, and I looked up to see him looking behind me. I turned my head to see Sensei standing there.

"Angus, don't worry," I said quickly. "This is Master Splinter. He's our sensei."

"Uh… I, uh…"

"Relax, my friend," Sensei said calmly. "You have nothing to fear as long as you are here."

Angus closed his mouth and his throat twitched as he gulp.

"Y-yes, sir," he said lowly.

I giggled.

"Michelangelo," Sensei spoke up. "Why do you continue to stare at Vanessa?"

"I dunno," he said, glancing up at Splinter before looking back at Vanessa.

"It's not like she's the first human you've seen, Mikey," Leo said, his look suggesting that his brother was doing something ridiculous.

"I know. But, she looks…different…" he spoke in his usual innocent voice, and a second later he grinned. "Hey… she's kinda cute."

I could almost feel everyone else's stares as they were all directed at Mikey. He ignored them though, and continued to look at Vanessa, now with what seemed to be admiration in his eyes. I was so tempted to just clap my hands together and go 'aw.' In fact, the only one who really responded to Mikey's comment was Splinter, who chuckled lowly.

Suddenly, Vanessa began to stir. Mikey, still sitting on the floor, blinked and quickly scooted back, looking slightly afraid.

"Back up, guys," I urged them as I quickly leapt over the couch and landed in font of her. "She's probably gonna freak out a bit, so be prepared."

They all nodded and backed away. I leaned in a bit, putting a hand on Vanessa's shoulder. She let out a small moan, shifted her head a bit, and opened her eyes ever so slightly.

"Hey, honey," I said gently. "How do yah feel?"

Vanessa blinked a few times, squinting a bit.

"…Like crap," she said finally. "What happened?"

"Yah fainted," said Angus, who looked beyond relieved that Vanessa was okay. "I'm sorry, Nessy. I'm sorry I left yah. I just… I wanted to make sure that Nia was alright, and…"

"It's fine," Vanessa said airily. "No problem."

Slowly, she sat up, holding her head with her hand.

"Man, I had a weird dream," she said, rubbing her forehead. "I think it happened after I fainted… I was laying under the bushes, waiting for you two to come back, and… there were these four weird creatures that ran past. I don't remember much after… after…"

She lifted her head and looked around. She looked surprised to find herself in and unknown location. Her eyes fell upon something behind me, and stared. I knew that she was looking at the guys. She let out something that sounded like a mix between a yelp and a whimper and flinched slightly.

"Vanessa, calm down," I said quickly, grabbing her shoulders. "Don't be freaked out. They're not gonna hurt you."

"Wha… But…" she gulped. "Who… who are they?"

I gulped, looking back at the boys, then up at Sensei, and I smiled sheepishly.

"Um… would now be a good time to admit that I'm kind of…adopted?"

Vanessa gaped at me as Angus snorted.

"Uh, yeah. Now would be a great time," he said shortly.

"Right."

I stood up from my spot on the ground and walked back to stand in front of the others.

"Vanessa, Angus," I gestured to the guys. "Meet Leonardo…"

Leo grinned and gave them a small nod.

"Donatello…"

Donnie grinned and waved slightly.

"Michelangelo…"

"Sup, playa?" Mikey piped up, winking at them.

"And Raphael."

Raph kept a straight face as he nodded at them. Vanessa stared around, mouth hanging open slightly. _Here it goes…_

"And that is Master Splinter," I said, gesturing to Splinter. "Our sensei."

Vanessa slowly turned around and gave a small gasp when she saw Splinter. Splinter smiled down at her and bowed his head.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet Lavinia's friends," he said calmly. "She speaks very highly of you both."

Vanessa blinked before closing her mouth, and she gulped.

"G-Good to know," she stuttered. "So, uh… you're like her teacher or something?"

"He's my sensei," I told her. "And my father."

Vanessa looked back at me.

"Your…father?"

"Yeah," I gestured to the guys again. "And these are my brothers, the ones I told you two about."

Vanessa looked around at boys, staring at them. Mikey waved at her, and I thought I saw the corners of her mouth twitch upward.

"Okay," she said. "So, let me get this straight; You guys are Leo, Mikey, Donnie, and Raph?"

"You know our names?" Donnie asked.

"Well, yeah! Nia talks about you guys all the time," Vanessa said, now seeming to be back to her regular self. "She failed to mention that you were turtles, though."

I shrugged. "Sorry," I said, grinning slightly. "But, can you really blame me?"

"They saved us," said Angus, grinning at the others. "Me and Nia would've been goners if it weren't for them."

Vanessa looked at Angus, then at the guys. We all stood there, waiting for something to happen.

"Well, in that case," Vanessa stood up from the couch and grinned at the boys. "You guys are cool with me!"

I snorted and covered my mouth to stop my laughing. Leave it Vanessa to act all bipolar in the most odd situations.

"Whoa, hold on," Raph piped up. "That's it? You're suddenly not freaked out by us anymore?"

"A little bit surprised, but why should I be freaked out?" she said, still smiling. "You saved us, we should be thanking you! Besides, Nia told us about you and about how awesome you guys are. You're cool with me."

"Awesome!" Mikey yelped happily, jumping to his feet. "I like her already!"

Surprisingly, Vanessa giggled as she smiled at him.

"Hm, I like you," she says. "You're cute."

Mikey's eyes widened as he beamed at her. At that moment Angus' phone buzzed. He took it out and read it.

"It's my mom," he groaned. "She's asking me where I am."

"It is very late," said Sensei. "Perhaps it would be wise if you went home so as not to worry your families."

"Yeah," said Vanessa, now looking irritable. "I better get home before my dad has panic attack. Last time I was out this late he almost called the cops."

Angus stood up and put his phone in his pocket. Vanessa brushed herself off a bit and turned to look up at Splinter.

"Um…sir?" she asked, sounding a bit nervous. "Since Angus and I know about you now, would it be a problem if we came to visit Nia sometime?"

I looked up at Sensei nervously. Would it be alright? Sensei smiled down at Vanessa.

"It would be no trouble at all," he said, bowing his head. "And please, call me 'Splinter.'"

I beamed with happiness at Sensei. It felt as though a huge weight was suddenly lifted off of my shoulders. I didn't have to lie to Angus and Vanessa anymore, and they could actually come visit _me _instead. This was amazing.

"You remember how to get out?" I asked Angus.

He nodded. "Yeah I remember the way."

"Well, we better go," said Vanessa.

"Yeah," Angus looked at all of us. "Thanks for everything."

"No problem," said Leo.

"And don't worry," said Vanessa. "You're secret's safe with us."

I smiled at them. They both turned, stepped out of the pit, and walked towards the exit. They were only a few feet away from the turnstiles when Vanessa stopped and turned.

"Hey, Nia?" she said. "We're still on for tomorrow, right? My offer still stands."

It took me a second to remember what she was talking about. I whipped my head around to look at Sensei, and I could tell he knew what Vanessa was talking about too.

"Sensei?" I said, my voice low.

Sensei closed his eyes for a moment, obviously thinking. A second later he looked over at me, and grinned.

"Very well," he said. "You may get your ears pierced."

I inhaled sharply as a smile grew on my face. I couldn't believe it. I was really getting my ears pierced!

"Great!" Vanessa clapped her hands. "I'll call you tomorrow, Nia!"

"See you!" I called out.

They both waved before walking out. I turned to look at my sensei, and I was still beaming.

"Thank you, Sensei," I said happily. "Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome, my daughter," he said, grinning at me.

He turned, hands behind his back, and headed back for the dojo. I sighed peacefully as I fell back and landed on the couch. This night had ended just about perfectly, and I loved it. From beside me I could hear small laughter. I turned my head and saw Mikey sitting on the couch next to me, legs folded up. He was smiling at apparently nothing, and was giggling with glee.

"What's so funny, Mikey?" I asked.

"She called me 'cute!'" he said, and he giggled more. "She thinks I'm cute!"

It was my turn to giggle.

* * *

(Friday)

I looked up at the large purple sign, and at the words 'Jamie's Jewels' written in pink. I glanced down and looked at the glass wall. I could see several girls hunched over the counters and talking to the clerks.

"Ready?" I heard Vanessa ask.

I looked over at her, then back at the store. I nodded.

"I'm ready."

Vanessa patted my shoulder before grabbing my wrist and dragging me inside. It was a nice little stare. The walls were painted sky blue with multicolored birds all over. I could hear the conversations from all the other girls in there.

"I really wanna get these pink ones, Clare…"

"I'd like to get some alligator earrings…"

"What do you mean 'your out of hoops?'"

Vanessa lead me all the way to the end of the store. There was a woman at the counter examining a set of yellow diamond earrings. The nametag on her chest said that her name was "Bernice." She was plump, had gnarly brown hair, but she seemed nice enough. The grin she gave me and Vanessa when she noticed us seemed to prove that.

"What can I help yah with, sweeties?" she asked in a thick, Brooklyn accent. "Can I interest you in some free studs? Limited time offer."

"I'm good, thanks," said Vanessa. "But, my friend here would love to get her ears pierced. You're still doing that, aren't you?"

"Ah-ha, yes!" Bernice clapped her hands together. "Well, I'll let you pick our your studs and we can get started. What would you like, sweet? Jewels? Pearls? We got some cute animal ones, if yah like?"

"Do you have any birthstones?" I asked politely.

"Why, of course we do! When's your birthday?"

"September 29th."

"September… September…"

She looked down at the glace counter, searching amongst the many jewels. After a few moments of looking she beamed.

"Ah, there we are!" Bernice slid open the door from behind the counter and reached inside. "Oh, might I suggest… _these_…"

She raised her hand up and held it out to me. I looked down and saw a pair of silver studs in her palm. It was a pair of silver-lined crescent moons. Each had a large stare attached to the top and bottom point, and the moons themselves were filled with a dark blue color.

"Sapphires," said Bernice. "The birthstone for September. What do yah reckon?"

"They're beautiful…" I sighed, staring at the earrings.

"Excellent!" Bernice beamed. "Just come to the back here and we'll getcha set up."

She walked out from behind the counter and started walking back, gesturing for me to follow. Me and Vanessa looked at each other and started giggling. I felt so excited and giddy! I wonder if all girls feel this way when they get their ears pierced?

With Vanessa right behind me, I followed Bernice to the back of the store, which kind of looked like a dressing room. There was a table with a small kit spread out and two chairs set next to it.

"Have a seat," said Bernice.

I sat down in one chair while she sat down in the other. She picked up a small bottle of clear liquid(rubbing alcohol, probably), popped the lid off, and poured a small amount onto her fingers. She then reached over and started rubbing it on my earlobe.

"I'm assumin' yah want it here?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do."

She poured a bit more onto her fingers and rubbed it on my other ear. She sat the bottle down and wiped her hands off before picking up a black marker. She reached over with the marker and grabbed my ear. As she put a mark on my lobe I glanced over at Vanessa, who had her phone out and was pointing it at me.

"Your recording me?" I asked accusingly as Bernice put a mark on my other ear.

"Of course I am!" she said brightly. "Getting your ears pierced is a small, but important step into womanhood. _Everyone _deserves to see this!"

She giggled as I rolled my eyes. Bernie reached over and picked up what was obviously a piercing gun. It looked like a purple, plastic handgun, but with a small slot on the barrel. Bernice took one of the moon earrings and set it up in the apparatus.

"C'mere, hon," she said, gesturing for me to come closer.

I scooted my hair up and leaned my head forward. Bernice held the gun up to me and I felt her place my earlobe into the slot. I could feel the sharp tip of the earring on my skin.

"Hold very still," Bernice warned.

"Okay," I said, and I could hear the excitement in my voice.

"Here it comes!" Vanessa said proudly, holding her phone to my face. "3...2...1!"

* * *

I quickly shuffled through the turnstiles and entered the lair. I looked forward and saw the boys sitting in the pit, all watching the TV. I remained silent until I reached the edge of the pit.

"Hey, guys."

They all looked up at me, and I was greeted with smiles.

"Looks who's back," Raph smirked as he folded his arms. "'Bout time, yah little ditch."

My eyes narrowed and I stuck my tongue out at him playfully.

"So, how'd it go?" Leo asked. "What did you get?"

I smiled at them before I reached up and moved my hair away from my ear to expose my earring.

"Wow!" Mikey scooted forward along the couch and sat up on his knees to get a better look. "_Moons… _Awesome!"

"Yeah, and they even got my birthstones on them," I said, gesturing to the sapphire-fill jewel. "Yah like?"

They all agreed. I grinned as I sat down on the edge of the pit. Mikey scooted over more and laid his head in my lap, and I placed my hand on his head.

"Hey, guys?" they all looked at me. "I, uh… I wanna say thanks."

"For what?" asked Donnie.

"For… For last night."

The boys all blinked at me, looking confused. Mikey lifted his head from my lap to stare up at me. I took a small breath as I bit my bottom lip.

"I never really thanked you all enough for what you did," I told them, fiddling with my hands. "You even let yourselves be seen by other humans to help me… and I never thought that I'd ever have to ask that of any of you. And… I just… thank you."

I looked up at all of the boys, waiting for their responses. They all stared at me, silent for a few moments.

"Nia," Leo said lowly. "There's no thanks necessary… Of course we came to help you, and of course we risked being seen. If I had the option to go back and do it over, I'd do the same thing."

I blinked at him.

"He's right," said Donnie. "It doesn't matter where you are or who's with you, if you were ever in trouble and needed help, we'd come for you."

I felt my shoulders slack as I grinned at him. Mikey suddenly hopped up to sit next to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"We're family, dudette," he said cheerfully. "Yah don't abandon family."

I felt my heart melt as he released me. I looked at the other end of the couch at Raph. He grinned at me and gave a small nod. And that was more than enough for me.

"You know, there's a new 'Impractical Jokers' coming on in a minute," Leo held up the remote. "We can all watch it together. You want in?"

"Yeah, sure," I nodded. "I just gotta… go put something up in my room first."

This was a lie, though. I didn't need to put anything up. I just needed a moment alone to collect myself from what had just happened.

"Yah better hurry," said Raph.

I stood up from my seat and backed away from the couch. I turned around and started to head for my room. Halfway there, I stopped. Some strange feeling had just suddenly over come me, making me want to do something- something I haven't done in years now.

I quickly turned and made my way back to the pit. I moved and headed straight for Mikey. He noticed me and smiled up at me. I hesitated for a split second before I bend down, leaned in, and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. Mikey's blue orbs widened as he beamed up at me. I smiled as I walked over to Leo, who had noticed me, too.

"Nia…?"

I ignored him, kneeled down, and kissed his cheek, too. He blinked up at me as I moved over to Donnie. He leaned his head back to look up at me, and I leaned down to kiss his forehead. He didn't stare in confusion, but grinned up at me. Finally, I scooted over to the end of the couch and fell into the spot next to Raph.

"What're you…?"

But I cut him off as I leaned up and kissed his cheek. I felt his whole body tense up as I sat properly on the couch. I could feel my cheeks heat up to the point where I was probably pink in the face. I lowered my eyes to my lap, smile still wide on my lips.

"I love you, guys…"

My voice was a whisper, but I know that they could hear me. I could feel all of their eyes on my. Slowly, I lifted my head up and looked at Donnie, Leo, and Mikey. They were all looking at me, soft smiles on their faces. I hesitated before turning my head to look at Raph. He was staring at me, his hand rubbing the spot on his cheek where I had kissed him. When I looked at him he lowered his hand and faced forward. A second later he threw his arm over me and pulled me into a rough, one-armed hug. I smiled up at him. He didn't look back at me, but the corners of his mouth curled into a small grin.

None of us said another thing on what just happened. Not for a while, at least. Leo, still grinning, picked the remote back up, turned on the TV, and changed the channel from his 'Space Heroes'. I don't remember us having more fun watching 'Impractical Jokers' than we did that day, and we had a lot of fun.


	20. New Girl in Town

**Hey guys. Listen, i don't know why, but i felt kinda off on this episode. I don't know why, i just didn't have alot of fun with it. I have no idea, i just felt off on it. So, please, let me know in the review if this was bad or not, and please be honest. I hope this chapter is okay.**

* * *

Ch. 15  
New Girl in Town

Remember Snakeweed? You know, the ugly guy that got mutated into an even uglier weed mutant? Same guy that we thought got blown up and turned into purple and green goop? Yeah… turns out he's not as dead as we thought. He's actually been around for a while since we last saw him. And yes, that's not a good thing.

Me, Donnie, and Mikey all ran to the ledge of the roof we were standing on. We looked down and saw Snakeweed heading our way. At once we all jumped down and landed in the street just in front of the mutant weed. He squalled at us before turning and running away. We ran after him just as Leo and Raph ran up and caught up with us. Just ahead I could see what looked like a pizza delivery boy driving by on a motorcycle. Snakeweed kept running and jumped over the guy, but then grabbed him with one of his Venus flytrap hands. The boy yelled in terror as he was snatched off his bike and dragged off.

"No!" Mikey shouted. "Not the pizza guy! Take Donnie!"

"How 'bout take no one?" I said as I glared slightly at him.

"Snakeweed's gettin' away!" Donnie called out warningly.

We continued running faster, trying to catch up to the mutant. Then Snakeweed made a sudden turn and lunged into an alley.

"Somebody help me!" the pizza guy shouted.

But just as we reached the alley Leo stopped running and held his hand up, signaling us to stop.

"We've got him trapped," he said.

"Good!" Raph withdrew his sais. "Then let's go weed whacking!"

"Tree trimmin'!" Donnie said, Bo staff in hand.

"Gardening!" Mikey piped up, looking pleased with himself. "Boom! Haha, oh yeah! Mikey put the sprinkles on that sundae!"

Raph sighed irritably, and I rolled my eyes.

"That's one weird sundae," I mumbled.

"Let's go!" said Raph.

But even as he stepped forward Leo held out his arm to stop him.

"Hang on, Raph. We're not charging a twelve foot, regenerating mutant."

"Then what _are_ we doing?" Raph snapped at his brother.

"We'll take Snakeweed from above…" Leo said as he pointed upwards at the roofs. "Tie him up in the clothes lines. C'mon."

Leo turned and hopped up, climbing the side of the building and making his way to the top. But Raph didn't follow.

"That'll take forever!" he said. "And we have to stop Snakeweed _now_. I mean, he's kidnapping people!"

"Not just people!" Mikey piped up. "People who bring pizza!"

"We take him from _above_!" Leo ordered firmly. "Let's move!"

He turned and continued climbing up. Not having any problems with his plan, I leapt up and followed Leo up the building. I heard the others jump up and follow from behind. As soon as we made it to the top Leo ran over to the edge of the building, and we followed.

"On my count," he whispered as he reached for the handles of his katanas. "One… two…"

He withdrew them, and we did the same with our own weapons. Once the unspoken 'three' came up, we all stepped forward and looked over the edge of the building into the alley. The only problem was… it was empty.

"Where'd he…?" Leo trialed off, staring into the alley.

Raph glared at his brother. "And the award for Worst Leader goes to…"

"How am _I _the worst leader?" Leo said reproachfully.

"If we did this _my _way, Snakeweed would be toast by now!"

Mikey shuddered. "Ugh… That'd be some nasty toast…"

Donnie's eyes then widened as quickly he reached forward and pulled his little brother back away from Leo and Raph, who appeared to be squaring up to each other. Even I took a step back when I saw this.

"_This _way _would've _worked if _you _hadn't wasted time second guessing my orders!" Leo said angrily.

"Well, don't give bad orders, and I won't second guess them!" Raph retorted.

I frowned at the two bickering boys. Taking a deep breath, I took a step forward.

"Guys, break it up," I told them. "Fighting's not gonna fix anything."

"Yeah? Well, it makes me feel a whole lot better," Raph said, not looking at me as he continued to glare at his brother.

I huffed. "That doesn't stop it from being stupid, Raph."

"So what?" Raph said, turning his head towards me as he gestured to Leo. "If it wasn't for his stupid orders we'd have Snakeweed right now! But _no_! We have to listen to Fearless and-"

"Nobody's perfect, Raph!" I cut across him. "The sooner you realize that, the sooner these fights over leadership can end! I don't know about you, but I'm sick of 'em and-"

"Nia, don't," Leo said shortly.

I turned my head to stare at him. What was he on about?

"Leo…"

"It's fine," Leo said lowly, and he glared over at his brother. "You know what, Raph? If you think you could do better, why don't _you_ lead?"

"What?" I snapped.

"First good idea you've had all day," Raph said firmly.

The two leaned forward, glaring and growling at each other. I stood there, looking from Leo to Raph and back again, thinking of what to say. Then, Mikey walked up.

"I got this," he whispered to me, and he stepped up to his brothers. "We'll compromise. I'll lead."

At this both Leo and Raph turned their heads to glare daggers at their youngest brother, fire in their eyes. Mikey winced and he slowly inched back to stand next to Donnie. Leo and Raph turned back to each other.

"Fine, Raph. The team's yours. I'm outta here."

With that, Leo turned and started to stomp away.

"Leo, wait! Leo!" I called after him.

I thought I saw Leo hesitate slightly when I called his name, but a second later he continued on, and started to run across to the next building.

"I can't believe he's gone," Mikey said miserably.

"Aw, don't worry, Mikey," Donnie said, putting hand on his brother's shoulder. "Leo, uh… he just needs some space."

Mikey turned his head to give Donnie a deadpanned sort of look. Donnie lowered his arm, looking disappointed.

"You meant the pizza guy, didn't yah," he asked shortly.

"Yeah…"

This whole time I had been standing still, staring off in the direction that Leo had gone. From behind me I heard Raph clear his throat loudly. I felt my face form a scowl as I turned to look at him.

"Yes?" I asked lowly.

"Are you gonna ditch us too?" he smirked, folding his arms. "Or are yah gonna stay with us?"

"Dunno. Are you really offering me the chance to leave? 'Cause right now I'm very tempted to."

Raph's face fell as he blinked, staring at me. Clearly he didn't think that I would say that.

"What're yah talkin' about?"

"What am I talking about?!" I said angrily, stomping over to him. "I'm talking about you and Leo fighting! What the hell, Raph? What was the point in any of that?"

"To talk some sense into our Fearless Leader," Raph said forcefully. "He's got no idea what he's doing anymore, it's about time that he-"

"That he what?" I cut across him. "Try to make you leader just because you pissed him off? If that's your idea of 'talking some sense', your insane!"

Raph stared at me as I glared at him. I couldn't believe what was happening. Raphael- my best buddy, my favorite hothead- was pissing me off to the point where I was practically yelling at him. I could sense that I had struck a small nerve by now because I saw Raph's eyes narrow slightly.

"Nia, I don't wanna fight with you," he said lowly.

"Neither do I, but you're giving me no choice," I snapped. "Just because Leo gets mad and runs off doesn't mean that you're the leader. Leo was chosen for a reason, Raph, and you have no right to take his place!"

Raph's hands twitched as they went into slight fists. His jaw was locked as he looked at me, and almost unreadable expression on his face. I say 'almost' because I could see the small bit of anger in his vivid, green eyes. A few seconds passed and all we did was stare at each other, waiting for the other to speak. By now I had begun to calm down slightly, but as I looked into Raph's eyes I could see he wasn't calming down a bit. Finally, he spoke.

"We're leaving."

He turned around and walked past Mikey and Donnie, who were staring at him in surprised before turning back to look at me. I felt my brows furrow as I started to walk towards him.

"Raph, stop."

"We're leaving, Nia."

"Dude, Leo's out there and your just gonna let him run off? What if he gets into trouble or-"

"Then go!"

I flinched as I stopped walking. Raph had whipped around, and was glaring at me with frustration in his eyes.

"Go on," Raph said, gesturing behind me. "If you wanna go run off with Leo, fine. I won't stop you! See if I care!"

Donnie gasped and I heard Mikey let out a tiny whimper. I blinked at Raph, my eyes widening. I couldn't believe what was happening. Raph was… yelling at me. We were fighting. We never fight, and he never yells. Not at me. Yet, here he was, yelling right at me. I could feel my heart starting to race slightly and my face began to heat up. My hands were held firmly at my sides as I felt anger and hurt pulsing through me, and I felt my hands clench into fists. Then, before I could stop myself, I yelled right back at him.

"Fine!"

Not giving any of them a chance to respond, I spun on my heel and sprinted across the rooftop and leaped over the edge to the next building. I heard Mikey and Donnie call out to me, but didn't stop, and I didn't turn around. I couldn't. I wouldn't let them see me this way. I wouldn't let them see me mad. I wouldn't let them see the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes; tears that were present because one of my best friends in the whole wide world had fought with me…

And fought with him, too…

* * *

I took several long breaths, trying to calm myself. I was sitting on the edge of a fire escape, my face buried in my hands. It worked, but only a little. I sniffed loudly as I lifted my head up, wiping my currently wet cheeks. I sat up as I inhaled deeply through my nose, and slowly exhaled through my mouth. I still couldn't believe what had happened. Raph and me had just fought for the first time. Now, there have been several close calls in the whole seven years that I've known him, but I've never gotten into an actual fight with Raphael. Somehow, I was the only person that he never blew up on, and that was saying something, considering he blows up on everyone. And the fight wasn't even the worst part. It was the look on his face. I've never seen Raph look at me so angrily in my life.

"Damn it," I sighed, rubbing my forehead.

At that moment I heard what sounded like a loud banging sound. Like someone was kicking metal around, and it was coming from the roof above me. I turned my head to look skyward. For a few moments there was silence, and I almost thought that I imagined the sound. But then I heard more noises. Sounds of grunting, yelling, and- more specifically- the clang of a katana colliding with metal.

"Leo…"

Instantly, I sprang to my feet and started to jump up the fire escape. The higher I went the louder the noises got, until I could hear them clearly without fail. I grabbed the ledge of the roof and pulled myself up. As I had hoped, I saw Leo up there. What I didn't expect to see was a small group of Foot soldiers surrounding him. But just when I considered going to help him, Leo took down the last soldier, knocking him to the ground.

"Ahh, I feel _so _much better," he said, grinning slightly.

Wanting to make my presence noticed, I pulled myself up and hopped onto the roof.

"Leo."

Leo turned and blinked when he saw me.

"Nia? What're you doing here? Where are the others?"

"They went home," I said as I walked up to him. "I didn't feel like joining."

"Why?" Leo leaned in slightly, looking at my face, and then his eyes widened. "Nia… have you been crying?"

I quickly lifted a hand up to my face. Had a I missed a spot while wiping the tears away?

"I… well-"

But before I could finish Leo suddenly put his hand up to silence me. He looked around for a moment, then looked up at the large billboard that stood on the roof we were on. I looked over there too. Hiding behind one of the board lights was a dark, slender figure. It must've been another soldier. Before we could do anything the figure leapt up and landed down in front of us. I knew instantly from those curves that the soldier was a girl. She stood up, and I saw that her uniform was different from the Foot soldier's. She seemed to be wearing a black, full body suit that was skintight, and had silver, armor on her arms, legs, and torso. On her face was a black, metal mask that covered everything from her nose down. Only her bright, brownish eyes were visible. As she stood she faced us, but I noticed her eyes fall onto Leo.

"Not bad," she said in a low voice.

I glanced over at Leo, and was surprised to see his eyes had widened and his jaw hanging opened slightly. His expression reminded me a bit of how Donnie looked the first time he saw April.

"Uh… thanks," Leo said, and I swore I heard the slightest tone of nervousness in his voice.

I rolled my eyes a little. Then the girl turned her head to me. She looked me up and down, and I noticed her eyes land on my kamas. She chuckled.

"So, there _is _another kunoichi in this town," she said. "I was hoping the rumors were true."

I raised my eyebrow slightly. What was this girl playing at? She straightened up slightly and started to walk towards us, her hips swaying slightly.

"You two might actually be a challenge," she said, a slightly chuckle in her voice.

Leo, his face now firm, gripped his katanas as I slowly started to reach for my kamas. The girl reached behind her for the handle of her tanto sword, and unsheathed it. I saw the gray cloud of smoke a split second before it came at us. My reaction was instant. I raised my arms and turned my head to block my eyes from the oncoming blinding power. Leo wasn't so lucky. He got a face full of the stuff and covered his eyes, coughing roughly. The next thing I knew I was shoved to the side and I landed on my back. I quickly sat up and saw Leo laying on his shell. The girl was standing over him, her foot on his chest and her tanto pointed at his face.

"Guess not," she said humorously, and she turned to look down at me. "I'll admit, I've seen more graceful slipups."

I straightened up into a crouched position as I made an irritated noise, frowning at her. She then turned to look down at Leo, and she removed her mask. Between her bright eyes and her face, she was stunningly pretty.

"My name's Karai," she said, grinning down at Leo, who was staring up at her with that dreamy expression again.

I was just about to get up and make her get off of him when she leaned back and took her foot off of his chest. She grinned at both of us as she sheathed her tanto.

"See you around."

And with that, the strange girl named Karai turned and ran off into the darkness. Me and Leo stood up, staring after her.

"What was that?" Leo asked.

"No idea," I turned to look at him, and gasped. "Leo, your eyes!"

"Uh?"

Leo turned to look at me, but that only made the image worse. Leo's eye were completely bloodshot. He must've taken more powder to the face than I thought.

"C'mon," I said, grabbing his arm. "Let's get home."

* * *

"This really isn't necessary, Nia."

"Oh, shut up, Leo."

I continued to ignore Leo as I turned on the cold water in the sink. I grabbed a small hand towel and put it under the running water. When the rag was completely soaked in cold water I turned the fosset off and twisted the rag to get rid of the excess water. I wrapped it into a ball as I turned and walked over to Leo and sat in the chair next to him. I leaned over and placed the rag to his left eye. He flinched for a moment, but then held still and allowed me to apply a bit more pressure.

"Good thing it wasn't permanent blinding powder," I said. "That would take more than water to fix that."

"Yeah."

We sat there in silence for a few moments, not saying anything as I continued to hold the rag to his eye. After what felt like 10 minutes, Leo broke the silence.

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"What're you talking about?"

"I'm talking about why you left the others."

I stared at him, not saying anything at first. I reached down and took his hand, bringing it up to the rag so that he could keep it on his eye. I lowered my hands and let out a soft sigh. I didn't know how else to say it, so I decided to just come out with it.

"Raph and I had a fight."

Leo sat straight up, the rag leaving his face. I noticed that his left eye now looked less red than before.

"What?" he said. "You guys fought?"

I reached over and pushed his hand up so that the rag went back to his eye.

"Yes, okay?" I said. "We fought. I got mad at him for pissing you off, and I he wanted to leave. I said it was a bad idea and that he was being stupid and… he snapped at me."

I looked at Leo, waiting for some kind of response. Leo stared at me for a moment before glancing at the ground, apparently in thought. Then he looked up at me.

"Nia…did he make you cry?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Leo seemed to know my answer though. He removed the rag from his eye as he suddenly jumped out of his seat, an angry look on his face.

"I'm having a word with Raph right now!"

"Leo, no!" I ran forward and jumped in front of him, grabbing his shoulders to make him stop. "No, stop! You don't need to do anything."

"Yes I do! First I'm talking to Raph, and then I'm going to Splinter."

"No, you're not!" I gripped his shoulders tightly. "Leo, you don't need to be involved. This is between me and Raph, no one else."

"He can't do that to you, Nia," Leo said firmly. "After all you've done for this team he has no right to do that to you."

"Raph fights with everybody!" I said exasperatingly. "He was bound to fight with me eventually."

"But he never fights with you!"

"I know!" I snapped. "But there's nothing you can do. This is my problem and I'll deal with it. Okay?"

Leo opened his mouth to argue, but I raised my hand to silence him and he closed his mouth. I sighed as I lowered my hand.

"Look, I can't stop you from telling Splinter, and God knows if you don't tell him he's bound to find out some other way. But I don't want you getting involved with this. The fight was between me and Raph, and if he still wants to argue I'll tell him I've had enough," I glanced away from Leo. "Though, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't talk to me at all. He and I have never fought, so… I don't know how he'll act…"

My voice trailed off as realization washed over me. How would Raph react the next time he saw me? Whenever he fought with the others he would give them the cold shoulder for about ten minutes then go right back to his normal self. Meaning that he would act as sarcastic as he usual did. But, what would he do the next time he saw me? I felt a hand on my back, and I looked up at Leo. He seemed to know exactly what I was thinking, and he rubbed my back comfortingly.

"If you don't want me to get involved, I won't," he said. "But if he gets out of line again, I won't hesitate to put him in his place."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Leo patted my back before lowering his hand. There was a short silence.

"C'mon," I said. "I saw the others in Donnie's lab when we came in, we should go see if they found anything out about Snakeweed."

Leo nodded, lowering the wet rag from his right eye. Both of his eyes were now looking much better than before. They still had some red left in them, but they appeared to be fine. We turned and headed straight for Donnie's lab. I could hear voices inside as we went near the door. When we reached the lab I slid the door open. Donnie, Mikey and Raph were all around Donnie's desk. Donnie was sitting in his chair, drawing on what looked like a map. Raph was standing over him, arms folded. Mikey was sitting backwards in a rolling chair. Once me and Leo entered the room all three of them turned to look at us.

"Nia and Leo are back!" said Mikey, but when he looked at Leo he frowned. "And Leo's been crying!"

I looked over at Leo, and realized that the small bit of red remaining in his eyes did make it look like he had been crying. I had to suppress a giggle as Mikey jumped from his chair, ran up to Leo and hugged him.

"Aw, you missed us!"

This time I had to cover my mouth to hide my giggle. Leo rolled his eyes and he moved his little brother off him.

"I got hit with blinding powder," he said roughly.

"Sure," Mikey said, smirking. "Big softy."

Leo ignored his brother and walked over to the desk. Raph, arms still folded, stepped forward in front of him.

"And where have you been?" he asked angrily.

"Don't see how that's _your _business," Leo retorted.

Raph glared at Leo for a moment before turning his head away.

"Fine. Whatever."

"Dudes, can't we just be cool with each other?" Mikey wrapped his arms around both Leo and Raph's necks and tried to draw them closer together. "Let's hug this out."

Raph elbowed his little brother in his stomach. Mikey let out a painful grunt as he hunched over, rubbing his plastron as Raph walked away.

"Okay…" he said hoarsely through the pain. "Now the healing can begin…"

"Looks like you're the only one who needs healing, bro," I said, patting his shell.

"Hey!" Donnie piped up, standing from his seat. "I think I've figured out where Snakeweed's hideout is!"

"Where?" Leo asked urgently.

"Okay," Donnie pointed down at the map he had been drawing circles and lines on. "The radial pattern of recent Snakeweed sightings indicates his lair is at the epicenter of 47th and-"

"Actually," Raph said, cutting Donnie off. "You're on a need-to-know basis. And, guess what? You don't need to know."

Leo frowned. "Hm."

Without saying another word Leo turned and walked out of the lab. I turned my head and watched him leave the room. When he left I whipped my head around to glare at Raph, who had his arms folded, a smirk on his face.

"Leader or not," I said firmly. "Leo is still a part of this team, and he has a right to know."

Raph didn't respond to my statement. In fact, he completely ignored me and turned back to look down at the large map. My eyes widened slightly as I stared at the back of his head. So he was going to give me the cold shoulder then. Only question was how long was he going to give it to me?

"Nia, you okay?"

I looked over at Mikey, who was looking up at me with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Why?"

"Well... you were pretty upset before..."

I heard the sound of a chair sliding along the floor and turn my head. Donnie had stood up from his seat and was looking at me with obvious concern. Raph didn't move, his eyes still looking down at the map, his expression unreadable. I bit my lip as I thought of what to say.

"It's okay, Mikey," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine now, really."

Mikey looked up at me sadly, not looking convinced. I patted his shoulder before turning and heading towards the exit.

"Dude, say something!" I heard Mikey say angrily.

I had a strong feeling that he was talking to Raph. But he didn't say anything, and the lab remained silent as I walked out and went into the living room.

* * *

Believe it or not, looking for Snakeweed was the last thing I wanted to do right now. I know it sounds stupid, but that's how I feel. I would've really preferred to stay in the lair with Leo. I didn't wanna leave him the way he was right now. But, Leo said that if the others did find Snakeweed, then they would need all the help they could get, and he told me to go ahead. No matter what anyone else says, Leo's still my leader, so of course I listened to him. But, God! The whole walk through the sewers was awkward as hell! Raph was still giving me the cold shoulder and refused to even look at me, and Donnie and Mikey continued to look at me with concern. I didn't let them ask me if I was okay, though. We were out here for one purpose: to find Snakeweed.

We were currently walking around the section of the sewer that was further away from our home; the bit that was a lot more slimy, wet, and gross. Which was why Raph, Donnie, and I were walking on side, and not in the actual drainage street. Mikey, however, was walking right through the nasty drainage water.

"Man, it really stinks around here…" Mikey grimaced as he sniffed the air.

"It is a sewer, Mikey," said Raph.

"I mean more than usual," Mikey sniffed again, and groaned. "Ugh… Where does all this stuff come from anyway?"

"Uh…" I glanced over at Donnie, who had looked up from his map, and nodded my head towards Mikey. "You wanna tell him?"

Donnie cleared his throat as he stepped over to his brother rather awkwardly.

"Uh, Mikey… it's, um…"

Donnie leaned over and whispered into his brother's ear. I almost couldn't hear what he was saying, but Mikey's reaction was a dead giveaway as to what his brother had told him.

"What?!" Mikey yelled as he leapt out of the drainage street. "Don't they know we're living down here?!"

"That _is_ the whole purpose of a sewer, Mikey," I said. "Plus, I think it's better if they don't know we're down here."

"Keep it down, guys!" Raph hissed at us.

"Wow," Donnie muttered. "You sound just like Leo."

Raph whipped around, glaring at his brother. "You say that one more time, and I'll shove your head in this sewage!"

He turned around and stomped forward, now having to step through the sewage water due to the closing path.

"And now you sound like you again," said Donnie as he joined his brother in the water.

I frowned as I looked down at the water. "So much for dry shoes."

We continued on for about 20 more minutes and still, we found nothing. We past through so many tunnels and made so many turns that we almost got lost. But, finally, we made one final turn and… well, we hit the jackpot. I mean, it had to be Snakeweed's lair. What other place would have glowing, green slime all over the floor and have weird, plant like tubes growing up all around the area.

"Wow…" Mikey said as he stared around.

"C'mon…" Donnie muttered as he glared down at his map, not even noticing the mess in front of him. "Snakeweed's lair should be around here somewhere."

"You don't say?" Raph said sarcastically.

He and Mikey both walked forward into the area and I stayed behind, waiting for Donnie to realize where he was.

"Uh, Donnie?"

"What?"

I huffed irritably before reaching up, grabbing the top of his head, and pulling it upward. Donnie's jaw dropped as he took in the sight.

"That's what," I stated as I walked forward.

The slime and the weird tubes were even grosser up close than they were at a distance. I looked around at all of them and saw that they were filled with clear, green liquid. I noticed Raph looking inside a nearby one and decided to walk over and check out what he was looking at. I thought I saw him glance over at me, but he looked away too quickly. I looked down inside the tube, and yelped. Inside was unmistakably a woman.

"Bloody hell!" I gasped, clutching my chest.

From behind me I heard the other two gasp, and I knew that they must've seen what was in the tubes as well.

"And he's growing humans!" Mikey said fearfully.

"He's not _growing _'em, shellbrain," Donnie hissed at his brother. "He's holding them captive."

"For what?" Raph folded his arms. "He's a plant. He can't eat 'em."

"He's probably turning them into fertilizer," Donnie said smartly.

"Ugh, is that really where fertilizer comes from?" Mikey asked, looking grossed-out.

I face palmed. "Oh, boy…"

"Actually, most fertilizer comes from…"

Donnie leaned in and whispered into his brother's ear. Mikey's eyes widened and he shook his head.

"What?! Is there anything that _doesn't _come from that?"

"Pizza," I piped up.

"Enough!" said Raph. "Let's cut 'em loose."

Raph pulled out his sais and started slicing the tubes open, the poor people spilling out of them. I rubbed my hands together before reaching into the tubes and pulling a woman out of one. For the next few minutes we pulled all of the poor humans out of the tubes. Once out they slowly started to come to. Me and the guys made sure to stay hidden as they woke up, and slowly, they started to leave.

"Not only was that a job well done," Raph stood up and folded his arms, looking proud. "It was a job well done _without _Leo."

I huffed as I rolled my eyes. "Great," I said. "What do we do about Snakeweed, then?"

Before any of them could ask there was a loud, hissing yell. I whipped around. Snakeweed was standing there amongst his taller tubes, and he looked furious.

"My fertilizer!" he growled angrily.

"What now, boss?" Mikey asked.

I pulled out my kamas, ready for a fight. What I wasn't ready for was one of Snakeweed's vines coming up from behind from behind us and knocking us down. The vine came back down to crush us, but I jumped to my feet and swung my left kama up. The blade sliced through the vine, but the appendage grew back quickly. Donnie suddenly came up and whacked the vine out of the way when it came down to hit me. But soon a second vine grabbed him by his ankle and threw him. Donnie yelled as he flew through the air and slammed against the wall. By now the other two had already gotten up and we were all running at Snakeweed. The mutant launched one of his flytrap hands at Raph and knocked him back, and me and Mikey skidded to a halt.

"Wow, we're totally loosing!" said Mikey.

One of Snakeweed's vines came down at us, and we all separated. Raph slid back and made to charge, but the vine knocked him back so that he hit the wall.

"Really?! I hadn't noticed!" Raph snapped at his brother.

"Then get your head in the game, bro!" Mikey yelled. "You're suppose to be the leader!"

A second later Snakeweed's flytrap shot forward and knocked him down. I heard a loud yell and I looked up to see Donnie had leapt up, his Bo staff raised, aiming for Snakeweed's head. But the mutant blocked the blow and knocked Donnie out of the way. Donnie landed on the ground in front of us, but quickly leapt away with the rest of us to avoid the oncoming vine.

"Get back in there!" Raph ordered.

"And do what?" Donnie said as he got up.

"Go for the head."

"I just did!"

"Do it…better!"

"Great!" Donnie snapped. "Four times in a row! _He'll never see that coming!_"

"I got yah, Donnie!" I called.

Me and him both ran up to Snakeweed at the same time, him from the right and me from the left. I threw a few shuriken at Snakeweed, and the mutant turned his head towards me. This was enough for Donnie raise his staff, jump up, and deliver a blow to the side of Snakeweed's head. Snakeweed squalled, but he lifted one of his vine and smacked Donnie down. I turned my head to glance back at Mikey and Raph.

"Now what, chief?" the younger one asked.

"Go…for the head!" Raph said, but he didn't look too sure about his answer.

"Fifth time's a charm!"

"Mikey, don't!" I yelled.

But Mikey was already running at Snakeweed, his nunchucks raised. One of the weed's vines suddenly snuck up on the poor turtle and wrapped around his ankle. Mikey yelled as he was lifted up and spun around multiple times before he was thrown back. Mikey hit the ground and flopped around before smacking hard into the wall.

"Mikey!" Raph and I yelled.

We both instantly ran towards Mikey, dodging all of Snakeweed's vines. This distracted the mutant long enough for Donnie to deliver a blow to his face. I doubled back and ran up next to Donnie, ready to help him.

"Raph! Little help here?" Donnie yelled.

"Just…hold him off!" Raph called back.

I stared up at Snakeweed before looking back at Raph kneeling over Mikey, who appeared to be unconscious. Snakeweed squalled as he launched his vines at us. Donnie blocked the blows with his staff while I sliced as much as I could with my kamas. A vine shot out towards Donnie, who blocked it, but the vine wrapped tightly around the staff and pulled. I ran forward to cut it when two other vines wrapped around my waist, and I yelped as I was lifted me up into the air. My kamas were knocked out of my hands and fell to the ground.

"Mikey's down!" Raph called out.

"So what do we do now, Raph?" Donnie asked desperately.

Raph didn't say anything, but looked down at Mikey and back up at Donnie. He let out a small yell as he grabbed the sides of his head, looking like he was about to freak the hell out.

"I'll smash you rotten turtles into the ground!" Snakeweed yelled.

"Raph!" I shouted.

Raph snapped his head up to me and gasped. He seemed to have just realized that Snakeweed was holding me up. The vines started to squeeze me tightly, and as I let out an angry noise I reached into my pocket, pulled out a shuriken, and stabbed the vine. Snakeweed squalled as he suddenly released me. I wasn't prepared for the fall, and instead of landing on my feet like I usually did, I landed right on my side. A sharp stab of pain suddenly went through my torso when I landed on the metal floor. It felt like someone had just jabbed my ribs with a knife. Through my pain I looked up to see Donnie had wrapped Snakeweed's vines around his staff and was pulling the vines through the pipes in the ceiling, keeping Snakeweed tangled and held back. Donnie leapt through the last pipe before letting go of his staff, locking it in place to keep the vines tangled. I quickly got to my feet as Donnie leaped up and ran over to Raph, who was staring blankly at Mikey's unconscious figure.

"Raph!" Donnie grabbed Raph's shoulders and started shaking him. "We don't have much time before he grows back! Let's grab Mikey and get outta here!"

Raph shook his head, and he finally seemed to have come to himself. He and Donnie both grabbed one of Mikey's arms and put them over their shoulders.

"Nia! You alright?" Donnie called as they stood up.

"I'm fine!" I said, putting my kamas in my belt. "Let's beat it!"

Now supporting the unconscious Mikey, Donnie and Raph started to run out of Snakeweed's lair. Ignoring the searing pain in my chest, I got up and ran, too.

"I'm coming for you, turtles!" Snakeweed yelled. "You hear me? I'm coming for you!"

* * *

It was a lot of work not to moan in pain as I ran beside the others. My chest was hurting like hell, but I knew that Mikey had to be in worse condition. He was the one who had to be carried home, not me, so I remained silent. It was only a short time later that we finally got into the lair.

"Sensei!" Donnie called out when we got home.

"Help!" Raph yelled.

Sensei poked his head out from the dojo, a look of concern on his face. He stepped out of the dojo and started marching forward.

"Set him down," he said, pointing at the couch.

The boys set Mikey gently on the couch as Sensei walked into the pit and sat beside his son. I leapt into the pit but soon regretted it since the force caused pain in my chest.

"Where is Leonardo?" Splinter asked urgently.

"I don't know," Raph said miserably. "Sensei, this is a disaster, and it's all my fault! I don't know what happened. I just…froze up. I mean, I have no problem risking my own life, but my brothers… and Nia…"

I whipped my head around, and I was surprised to see Raph was actually looking at me. He had been giving me the cold shoulder all night, and now is when he chose to finally look at me. Sensei lifted his hand and touched Mikey's face, examining him. A moment later he turned to look sternly up at his son.

"Now you see the price of leadership, responsibility," he said.

Raph hung his head. "Yeah… I hate it."

"So you understand Leonardo's burden."

Raph lifted his head, and nodded. "We need him back," he said. "_I_… need him back."

"Then go get him," Sensei said.

"But Sensei, I don't know where he is."

"He's going to the Biarly Building," Donnie piped up.

I turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"April texted me," Donnie explained as he held up his T-Phone, then his eyes widened as he jumped to his feet. "April texted _me_…! _Oh, this is the best day!"_

Mikey let out a loud, painful groan. Donnie blinked and looked down at him.

"Well, I mean… it's had its ups and downs…"

I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped me, but as soon as I did pain shot through my chest again and I winced, clutching my side.

"Nia?" Donnie said.

Sensei, who had been heading back for the dojo, doubled back and looked down at me.

"Lavinia, what is wrong?"

I didn't answer immediately. Now that my adrenaline had lowered and I had started to relax the pain in my chest had return, and it felt worse than it did before.

"Nia, you okay?"

It wasn't Donnie who had asked, it was Raph. And it was this that made me look up at them. They were both looking at me with concern in their eyes.

"Not really," I admitted.

I took a small breath, but even this cause severe pain in my lungs. I groaned as my legs gave way and I fell to my knees. At once the other two ran over to me and I felt Sensei put a hand on my back.

"Nia, what is it?" Donnie asked.

"When Snakeweed dropped me," I blurted out. "I landed on my side. I… I think I hurt my ribs…"

I grunted as I hunched over, wrapping my arms around my torso.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Raph asked angrily.

"Mikey… was hurt…" I said, taking small breaths so as not to hurt my ribs. "We had to get him home… you didn't need to… worry about me too…"

I squinted my eyes as the pain continued. Now that Mikey was safe and secured there was no reason for me to hold back.

"Raphael," I heard Sensei speak. "You must go find Leonardo."

"But-"

"We'll take care of Nia and Mikey, Raph," said Donnie. "You gotta find Leo."

I glanced up at Raph. He gave his brother a small nod before standing up. He looked down at me, and I saw so much hurt and concern that I was surprised. Raph reached over and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaping out of the pit and running out of the lair.

"Donatello," Sensei said firmly. "You must attend to Lavinia. I shall watch over Michelangelo."

"Yes, Sensei."

I looked up as Donnie put an arm around me.

"Can you stand?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah… but it hurts like hell."

"That's what I thought. Here, hold onto me."

I slowly lifted my arms and put them around Donnie's neck. He put one arm around my back and the other under my legs and gently lifted me up. He then carried me out of the pit and brought me into his lab.

* * *

**Raph's P.O.V.**

We were all crouched around Mikey, who was still unconscious. Leo, who was sitting by Mikey's feet, held up a slice of pepperoni pizza to Mikey's face. Mikey's nose twitched, and a second later he opened his eyes.

"Mmm… pepperoni…"

"Works every time," said Leo.

"Mikey!" I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around my brother. "Don't scare me like that, buddy! I thought we lost you!"

I leaned back and looked at Mikey, who was looking a bit groggy.

"Dudes, I had the weirdest dream…" he said lazily. "I dreamt the stuff in the sewer was made out of-"

"Eh, forget out it Mikey," Donnie said quickly. "It was just a dream."

Donnie looked at me and Leo and held a finger to his lips, indicating that we shouldn't tell Mikey anything. Leo held out the pizza slice and Mikey took, stuffing it in his mouth. I turned to Leo and grabbed his arm. Without saying anything I pulled it up and dragged him away from the others so that they would over hear us.

"So, what's with the girl who tried to kill you?" I asked.

This was something I needed to know. I mean, I go out and try to find Leo, and I find him talking Foot kunoichi. Leo said her name was Karai or something like that. He didn't get to explain why he was with her because Snakeweed showed up. Luckily we were able to take care of him, but that didn't mean that I had forgotten about that girl.

"She didn't try to kill me," said Leo. "She saved me."

I raised my brows. "She threw a knife at your head."

"She threw a knife _near _my head," Leo corrected, holding up Karai's tanto.

"She's in the Foot Clan," I said bluntly.

Leo sighed. "Well… like Nia said before, Raph. Nobody's perfect."

Leo patted my shoulder and walked past me. I groaned. Leader or not, he could still be an idiot sometimes.

"Hey, where is Nia, anyway?" Leo asked as he looked around and noticed that Nia wasn't in the room.

"She's resting," Donnie said, sounding a bit glum.

"How's she doin'?" I asked.

Donnie sighed. "Well… she could be better."

"Why?" Leo ran up to Donnie. "What happened?"

"We went to go find Snakeweed's lair," Donnie explained. "We found it and we found Snakeweed. We fought, but…"

"It was my fault," I blurted out. "I didn't know what I was doing, I… I just…"

I let out an angry noise as he clenched my hands into fists. It was my fault that Mikey got hurt. It was my fault that Nia got hurt. Everything was my fault. _What the hell is wrong with you?!_ a voice screamed in my head. I felt a hand on my shell and I looked up. Leo was giving me a look that said 'it's okay'.

"Dude, what's wrong with Nia?" Mikey asked, looking fearful.

Nobody answered him. I glanced over at Donnie.

"How bad is it?" I asked, scared to hear the answer.

Donnie glanced down, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he sighed heavily.

"She's got three fractured ribs."

I felt Leo's hand tense up on my shell and I clenched my fists tightened. Three ribs… No…

"Is she okay?" Mikey asked worriedly.

"She will be," said Donnie. "But she's going to need a lot of rest. And… she won't be able to train until she's healed."

"Is there anything we can do?" Leo asked.

"All we can do is make her comfortable," Donnie answered. "Fractured ribs will heal themselves over time, but it'll take a few weeks, give or take. All I can do is give her pain killers to help with the pain, and I already gave her some earlier."

"Raphael," I heard Sensei's voice. "A word."

I looked up. Sensei had just come out of the hallway where our rooms were. He must've been seeing how Nia was doing.

"Coming, Sensei," I said.

I stepped out of the pit and walked over to him. He gestured for me to follow him, and we went further into the hall.

"Raphael, Leonardo spoke with me earlier," Splinter turned to face me. "He claims to know of a disagreement between you and Lavinia."

I blinked up at him. Nia told Leo about the fight? And Leo told Splinter? _Leo, you ass!_

"He says that Lavinia was very upset afterwards," Splinter's eyes narrowed. "My son, is this true?"

I gulped, pausing for a moment. Then I hung my head.

"Yes, Sensei…"

There was a pause. I didn't look up at Splinter. I could feel his eyes glaring at my head.

"Raphael, am I right to assume that you regret fighting with Lavinia?"

"Yes!" I said quickly, looking up at him.

"Will you ever have a fight like this with her again?"

"No, I won't!"

Sensei lifted his walking stick and pointed down the hall to Nia's room.

"Then go apologize to her."

Now I remained silent. I turned my head to look at Nia's bedroom door, staring at the 'Three Days Grace' poster taped to the surface. What should I do? What should I say? I was used to fighting with my brothers… but Nia… Would she even forgive me? Would she ever speak to me again? The thought of Nia never speaking to me again… well, it scared me. Yeah, that's right, I was scared of something.

"I… I don't know if I can, Sensei," I admitted, still staring at the door. "I mean… what if apologizing isn't enough? What do I do?"

Sensei sighed. "Raphael, there is an old saying," he spoke softly. "A good man will apologize for his mistakes… but a _great _man corrects them."

I looked up at Sensei, who looked back at me with gentle eyes. He took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I shall leave you to decide which you would rather be."

And with that, he lowered his hand and walked away. I glanced back at him before looking forward at Nia's door. I took a deep breath, and I strode over toward it. As I got closer I could hear music coming from inside, indicating that she was listening to her radio. I lifted my fist, paused, and knocked. The music's volume lowered.

"Come in."

I grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door. Nia's room was always cool looking to me. Posters of her favorite music artists and a few pictures of guitars were taped to the wall. A large, yellow beanbag sat in the far left corner. She had a slightly cracked, full body mirror that sat across her bed, which still had the dark purple comforter that we had given her years ago. Nia was laying on her bed, resting against a few pillows so that she was propped up. She wasn't wearing her white hoodie, and she was holding a smaller pillow against her chest. The second I walked in she snapped her head up to look at me, a look of surprise on her face. I couldn't blame her. I had been flat out ignoring her since we fought.

"Hey," I said as I closed the door behind me.

"Hey…" she said softly, clutching the small pillow closer to her chest. "Um… 'sup?"

"Nothin'."

There was an awkward silence. Then Nia reached her hand down and patted the surface of her bed, inviting me to come sit. I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, the springs making a slight creaking noise at my weight.

"How's Mikey doing?" Nia asked.

"He's awake," I said. "Leo gave him some pizza, so he should be fine."

Nia chuckled, and suddenly winced and clutched her pillow tightly. I looked at her and waited for her to relax before speaking.

"How're you doing?"

She gave a small shrug. "Eh… yah know," she grinned slightly. "I could be a whole lot worse. I could have four messed up ribs instead of three."

I grinned as I chuckled. She could be so funny sometimes, even if she was hurt. There was silence again, and it was still filled with tension. I turned my head to look at Nia, and she was looking at me as though waiting for something.

"Nia," I started. "Listen, I… I just-"

"Forget it," she said.

I looked at her. She didn't look angry, she didn't look upset. Hell, she smiling at me.

"No," I shook my head. "Nia, I-"

"Forget it," she repeated. "I know what you're gonna say Raph, and it's okay. I forgive you…"

I blinked, staring at Nia, my mouth hanging open. But she just kept on smiling at me, that same kind look she always had was in her eyes. I gulped slightly as I scooted closer to her.

"You were right," I said. "I don't deserve to be leader, I'm not right for it. I didn't listen to you, and you and Mikey got hurt. I…don't care if I risk my life, but…when it come to you guys…"

I felt her touch my arm and I stopped talking.

"It's okay, Raph," she said soothingly. "Yes, you made a big mistake, but you've learn from it. And… look, people make mistakes, okay? It's one of the things that make us human."

I rolled my eyes as I chuckled.

"Yeah, right," I said smartly. "Incase yah haven't noticed, Nia, you're the only one here that's human."

There was silence again. Then, Nia slowly and gently scooted closer towards me, making sure to go slow enough to not hurt herself. I looked at her as I waited to see what she was doing. A second later she reached up, put a hand on my shoulder, and pulled forward. She leaned her face in and kissed my cheek. I clenched my jaw and froze up even as she leaned back.

"You're more human than you think, Raph," she said. "You all are."

I stared at her, unsure how to respond. She just continued to smile at me. A second later she lifted her arm up towards me.

"We cool?"

I grinned and chuckled as I leaned forward and gave her a one-armed hug.

"Yeah. We cool."


	21. The Alien Agenda

**HEY EVERYBODY! I'M BACK! Yes, yes, I have returned from my graduation trip. I actually arrived very late on Saturday night. I know it's Tuesday and it's been forever since i've updated, and i was hoping to get something in sooner, but i'm here now! And I'm gonna make sure that i'm writing like it's no tomorrow from now on! Antyway, i got a new turtles chap here for yah, and I hope you like. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ch. 16  
The Alien Agenda

"When fight is concluded, the ones called 'the turtles and the girl' are defeated by Kraang!"

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped as I kicked the talking droid in the head.

Okay, not exactly how I was expecting this patrol night to go. This was my first night out since I got hurt 3 weeks ago, and I was actually just hoping for a quick run across the buildings and maybe having some fun with my bros. But, whatever. I can have fun taking down some Kraang-droids, too.

A Kraang-droid ran up to me, firing its gun. I jumped over the stream of oncoming lasers and landed on the droid. I slashed my tessen along it neck, severing the metal and wires. I looked up in time to see Leo run up and slice off the arms of another droid.

"Nice one, Leo!"

"Thanks!"

Leo backed away a little bit, then suddenly turned his head upwards, as though looking at something. I quickly followed his gaze to the top of the building next to us. I gasped when I saw that there was someone standing on the corner, looking down from above. It was Karai; the Foot kunoichi Leo and I had encountered weeks ago. I could see her over pierced ears all the way from here. I opened my mouth to ask Leo what he was doing when something grabbed me from behind and threw me on the ground, knocking my tessen out of my grip. I looked up to see a Kraang-droid towering over me, aiming its laser gun at me. I picked up my tessen and raised it to strike, but…

"Don't worry, Nia!"

Leo suddenly jumped out of nowhere and kicked the droid to the ground, stabbing it with his katana. He grinned at me before running off. I got up to my feet as I stared after him.

"Uh… thanks?" I muttered, raising my eyebrow.

From nearby I saw Raph battling a droid. He was just about to stab it when Leo suddenly jumped and landed between the two.

"I'll save you, Raph!" he called out as he sliced the droid in half.

"_You'll _save?" Raph said angrily.

Leo was already running towards another droid, kicking the gun away and knocking him down. Then he made a quick B-line for Mikey, who had the droid wrapped tightly in his kusarigama-chain. Leo leaped up into the air and landed on top of Mikey's droid.

"Relax, Mikey!" Leo did a backflip as he sliced the droid to pieces with his katanas. "You're safe now!"

"What's up with him?" Raph muttered to me as I walked up to him.

I shrugged. "Beats me."

But, deep down, I had a pretty strong feeling of what he was doing. The fact that I saw him look back up at Karai proved that.

"Thanks," Mikey said cheerfully, but then he frowned. "Wait… I was fine."

But Leo didn't respond to him, and continued on, heading straight towards Donnie, who was fighting his own droid.

"Donnie, behind you!"

Donnie whipped around, raising his Bo staff. But, there was nothing there, except…

"The wall?" Donnie said confusingly, staring at the end of the alley.

But before he could even turn around, Leo had already pounced. He sliced through the final droid with ease, and did a large, impressive backflip before landing on the ground, sheathing his katanas. He placed a hand on his hip, looking very pleased with himself. He looked upward at Karai, who was still observing from the roof corner. Leo gave her a cocky smirk, but due to her mask I couldn't tell Karai's expression. She was definitely intrigued, though. Then, to my surprise, I saw her turn her head and her gaze fell upon me. She looked at me for a fraction of a second before turning and running away.

"Um, what the heck was that?" Donnie asked, and I looked down to see that he and the other two had gone over to Leo.

"Yeah, you trying to impress us?" Mikey asked suspiciously, then he smiled. "'Cause it worked!" he added, hugging Leo as he pinched his cheek.

I rolled my eyes as I walked up to the other two. That's when I noticed the look on Raph's face. He looked angry and distrusting, and that look was directed at Leo.

"What is it, Raph?" asked Donnie.

"I thought I saw something…" he walked up to his older brother, folding his arms. "What about you, Leo? Did _you _see something?"

Leo's eyes narrowed. "No."

Raph glared at his brother, lowering his arms. He didn't look convinced. He glanced over at me for a second, then glared back at Leo.

"Teammates first, right?" he asked.

"…Teammates first," Leo confirmed.

The two brothers continued to glare at each other, neither of them moving. Mikey sensed the tension building and quickly moved away from Leo to stand beside me and Don.

"You feel like we're missing something?" Donnie asked us quietly.

"All the time," Mikey said seriously.

_Oh, boys… If only you knew…_

* * *

Look, I'm a kunoichi, right? And one of the requirements of being a kunoichi is to remain undetected, especially when trying to sneak up on someone or trying to eavesdrop on them. Speaking of which, I was currently in the middle of doing that. Yes, I'm eavesdropping again. Sue me! Don't get me wrong, I always feel kind of bad after spying on any of my brothers. My guilt was often outweighed by my curiosity, though. And I was really curious to know what my two bothers could be talking about while they sparred with each other in the dojo.

"You knew the Foot Clan was watching us!" Raph snapped at Leo.

"Not the Foot! Karai!"

"Karai _is _the Foot!"

Raph moved his arm to strike Leo with his sais, but Leo blocked the strike and caught the blades with his katana.

"You knew she was watching, and all you did was _show off_!"

Leo kneeled down and pushed his katanas upward, shoving Raph over his head and onto the floor.

"I was demonstrating how formidable we are," Leo said as he stood back up, raising his katana. "I knew she wasn't going to attack us."

"Of course not! She's studying our moves for next time," Raph said seriously, circling around his brother. "You don't flirt with the enemy, Leo. You take 'em down!"

But Leo shook his head. "No, you're wrong about her! She has a good side."

Leo raised his katana and brought it down, but Raph caught it with his sais.

"Oh yeah? Well, if that's what your doin' why don't you go tell the others?"

"Nia already knows about Karai, Raph," Leo said firmly, and I inhaled sharply when my name was spoken. "She was there when I met Karai, and you were more than happy to tell her about what happen during our fight with Snakeweed 3 weeks ago. I'm not worried about her."

"Great," Raph snapped. "Then why won't yah tell Mikey and Donnie, huh?"

"Because they wouldn't understand!"

Raph's eyes narrowed. He used his sais to flip Leo around and push him back. Leo hit the wall and Raph held his forearm to his brother's plastron to keep him in place.

"You really think Mikey and Donnie wouldn't understand?" Raph paused and frowned. "…You really think _Donnie_ wouldn't understand?"

Leo glared. "Look, I know what I'm doing!"

In one foul swoop, Leo raised his arm and punched it forward, knocking Raph clean off his feet. The re-banded turtle fell back, his sias falling from his hands. He growled as he got up and jumped onto Leo, bringing them both to the ground. Raph punched Leo several time before the latter managed to shove him off. Leo leaped forward and wrapped his arms around Raph, putting him in a headlock.

"You have to trust me," Leo said firmly.

"Why should I?!"

"What is going on in here?!"

The boys both looked up and I held my breath. Sensei had come out of his room. He was standing over Leo and Raph, his eyes narrow. Leo released Raph as they both stood up, brushing themselves off.

"Uh… nothing important," Leo said quickly, and he looked at his brother. "Right, Raph?"

Raph folded his arms, not looking at Leo. A second later he sighed.

"Right…"

Raph unfolded his arms and started to walk away, shoving Leo with his shoulder as he did. I felt that this was a good time to leave before I was spotted, and I quickly tiptoed away.

I didn't stop sneaking until I was in the living room. April, Donnie and Mikey were all in there. Donnie was sitting on the couch and appeared to be reading a magazine. April was sitting on the floor, several school books laid around her and her bright yellow laptop in front of her. That was a habit she had gotten into after becoming our friends. If she ever had a lot of homework she would come here to do it. I had a feeling it mostly had to do with the fact that she could ask Donnie for help and he could answer her no matter what. Right now, she appeared to be taking a q-tip and rubbing the end of it in her mouth. As I got closer I noticed Mikey was next to her, laying on his plastron, his face in his hands as he watched our human friend.

"Whatcha doin', April?" he asked.

"Sending in a sample for a class project," she answered as she put the spit-coated q-tip into a vial.

Mikey blinked. "You're mailin' in your spit for a class project? Man!" he pushed himself up so that he sat on his knees. "School sounds awesome!"

"It isn't," April said glumly, glaring at the tube.

"Well, I'd be awesome at it," Mikey stood up proudly. "Check this spit out!"

With the speed of lightening, Donnie dropped his magazine, sprang to his feet and launched at Mikey, covering the little guy's mouth before any spit could be diploid.

"Don't!" Donnie said firmly, and Mikey groaned.

"April's got a point, Mike," I said as I sat on the edge of the pit. "Vanessa and Angus talk about school all the time, and they both agree that they'd rather be anywhere _but_ school," I looked down at April. "But, they never mentioned having to mail in their spit before."

"It's not about spit," she said. "It's the DNA."

"Oh, right."

Mikey, whose mouth was still covered, made a muffled sound that sounded like he was asking what DNA was.

"DNA," Donnie said simply, removing his hands from Mikey's mouth. "Genetic code. Yah know, the building blocks of life?"

Mikey blinked up at his brother, his eyes full of confusion. Donnie rolled his eyes.

"Okay, DNA is a microscopic blueprint that tells every living thing what to grow into and why am I still talking to you?" he finished grumpily, frowning at Mikey.

"I don't know," Mike grinned. "You think you'd have learned by now."

"Everyone in our class is sending a DNA sample to this research group," April continued as Donnie and Mikey sat down in front of her. "The Worldwide Genome Project. Then they'll send us back a report telling us about our ancestors. Neat, uh?"

"Uh-huh," Mikey nodded. "Uh-huh, uh-huh… Wow, its amazing what they can do these days."

I blinked as we all stared at him for a moment. Then a second later Mikey burst into laughter.

"Just kiddin'!" he said, shoving Donnie playfully.

"Of course, you were," I mumbled.

At that moment my phone started buzzing. I reached in and took it out. It was a text message from Angus. I opened it up looked at the message. There was an attachment on it, and the text read "first baby picture."

"Who is it?" Mikey asked excitedly, jumping up and running over to me. "Who yah talkin' to? Is it Ness?"

I could help but chuckle at that. Since meeting, Mikey and Vanessa seemed to be getting along really well. It had gotten to the point where she let him call her 'Ness' instead of 'Vanessa', at least.

"Chill, bro," I said. "It's just Angus."

I clicked on the attachment and it loaded it up. The image of an ultrasound screen appeared on my phone. I found myself grinning down at the tiny dark shape on the screen that could only be Angus' future sibling.

"Aww…"

"What is it?" Donnie asked.

"It's a pic from Angus," I said sweetly. "His mom just went to her first ultrasound. Look!"

I held my phone out so that they could see the picture. They all leaned in and looked at the picture. Donnie smiled warmly and April made a loud 'aww'. Mikey stared at the picture, his eyebrow raised.

"Are babies suppose to look like little blobs?" he asked.

I giggled. "It'll look a lot different in a few months, Mikey," I said as I put my phone in my lap.

"Oh…"

"How far along is she?" Donnie asked.

"About two months," I said. "They won't know if it's a boy or a girl until the 4th or 5th month, I think."

"Have you actually met Angus' parents yet?" April asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Angus had another gig the other day, and his parents were able to go see him. He introduced me to them. His dad's really funny, and his mom's so sweet!"

April smiled. "I bet their excited about having a baby, huh?"

"Yep," I looked back down at the picture on my phone. "They should be."

* * *

_**Is it weird that I hear, violins whenever you're gone…**_

_**Is it weird that your ass, reminds of a Kanye West song…**_

_**Is it weird that I hear, trumpets when you're turning me on…**_

_**Is it weird that your bra, reminds of a Katy Perry song…**_

_**Every time, that you get undressed…**_

_**I hear symphonies in my head…**_

_**I wrote this song just, looking at you**_

_**Oh, wo-ooh…**_

_**Yeah, the drums, they swing low…**_

_**And the trumpets, they go…**_

I hummed softly as I played the strings on my guitar. It was so good to play my music again. See, while I was on bed rest with my bad ribs, it wasn't easy to play my guitar. If I so much as put the strap on it would cause pain in my chest. Donnie specifically said to not play my guitar until I was healed. After a slightly heated argument, I reluctantly agreed. Man, it felt good to play again!

"Cool song."

I looked up at the doorway and saw Raph standing there, arms folded, grinning at me. I grinned, too.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Mikey's making lunch," he said, nodding his head outward. "Thought you might wanna come see what crap he's whippin' up for us."

I rolled my eyes as I took off the guitar strap and put the instrument on my bed.

"C'mon, Mikey's not bad," I said as I stood up. "Not when he's making normal stuff, anyway."

"Since when does he make normal stuff?"

"He made me a PB&amp;J yesterday for lunch."

Raph blinked. Obviously he didn't expect an answer that quickly. I grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. C'mon."

Raph turned and walked away as I stood up to follow him. As we both walked out of the hallway and towards the kitchen we saw Leo walking in through the turnstiles as he entered the lair.

"Look who's back," Raph whispered darkly.

"He's been out for hours," I whispered back.

I looked over at Raph as saw he was glaring at Leo. I rolled my eyes. Before Raph could make any rude remark I jogged over until I caught up with Leo. When I was by his side I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, and he looked at me, surprised.

"Welcome back, Leroy," I joked, smirking at him.

Leo shook his head as he laughed. "Please, don't start calling me that again."

I giggled as I slid my arm back. Yes, when we were younger I used to call Leo 'Leroy'. I only did it because I thought it was funny and it annoyed him. But I haven't done it in about a year now, so he's not bothered by it anymore. I glanced behind me as Raph quickly caught up with us.

"So, are you gonna tell the guys about her?" he asked.

By 'her', he meant Karai. Leo's smile faded as he looked from Raph to me. I gave a small shrug, not sure what he wanted.

"No need," Leo looked forward as we neared the kitchen. "We… had a little chat. And, ah, she's gonna leave us alone."

"'Us'?" I asked. "As in 'all of us'?"

Leo stopped walking just in front of the kitchen curtain and looked over at me.

"Well… more like all of you," he corrected. "I told her if she wanted to fight, she could fight me. But I told her that if she went after you guys, I would go after her."

I raised my brows. "So…?"

"So… I'm pretty sure she's gonna leave you guys alone."

"Oh, right," Raph said shortly, folding his arms. "Because villains always back off when you ask them to. Maybe I'll text the Kraang and ask them to stop mutating stuff."

Leo glared at Raph before pulling the curtain back and walking into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes as I frowned at Raph.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing, Raphael."

I followed Leo into the kitchen, and Raph followed behind me. Both Mikey and Donnie were already in the kitchen. Donnie was sitting at the table, messing around with his laptop. Mikey currently had his head stuck in the fridge.

"Hey Mikey," I said as I took a seat next to Donnie. "So, what's for lunch today?"

"That depends, baby cakes," he said, and he looked around to smile at us. "Okay guys, what do you want? Omelet pizza? Or pizza omelet?"

"What's the difference?" Raph asked.

"Simple; there is none," I said.

"Okay dudette, you called my bluff," Mikey said, grinning as he took out a large bowl of eggs.

Suddenly, all of our T-Phones went off, the little retro ringtone playing, indicating that we all had just gotten a text message. I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone just like the others, and I looked at the message. It was a mass-text, and it was from April.

"**Help! I'm trapped! Being attacked by old lady at my school!"**

"Hey, did you guys just get a mass-text from April?" Donnie asked, looking at his own phone.

"Yeah."

"Mhm."

"Well, does yours also say that she's being attacked by an old lady?"

"Sure does."

"Mmhm."

"Yeah."

"That's weird," I said, putting my phone back in my pocket.

"Is that considered an emergency?" Donnie asked Leo.

"I guess," he said.

We all stood there looking at each other for a few seconds.

"Let's go!" Leo ordered.

At once we all jumped up and ran out of the kitchen.

"So much for your pizza omelets, Mike," I said.

* * *

I'll admit, it was risky enough going on the surface during the middle of the day- at least, it was for the guys- but it wasn't nearly as risky as literally kicking the doors of the high school open. Guess we can put 'breaking and entering' on the list of thing were responsible for in this city. But even with the situation, I had to take a second to marvel at the interior of the school. I've always imagined what school would be like, and I've seen plenty of movies and TV shows that had a school in them, but this place was way more. It was so big, but oddly expensive-looking. It appeared to be the kind of school where you'd have to have a good deal of money on you if you wanted to get in.

"Sweet!" Mikey breathed, staring wide-eyed and beaming. "So this is what school's like!"

"Yeah," I said as we continued walking, holding my closed tessen in my right hand. "I guess Vanessa wasn't kidding when she said it was huge!"

A second later there was a loud beeping sound. I looked down and saw that we were passing through what looked like metal detectors that sat against the wall. Raph thrust his arm forward and stabbed a detector with his sai. The thing continued to beep. Raph grunted angrily as he started stabbing the thing repeatedly until it finally powered down.

"And 'destruction of school property' goes on the list," I said playfully as we continued on, and I looked at Raph. "You feel better?"

"Hell yeah," he said.

We continued down the entrance hall before coming up to a flight of stairs. Once at the foot of the stairs we looked up. There appeared to be a woman standing right at the top. Judging by the graying in her hair, she must've been the old lady April was talking about.

"Um, is this a joke?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.

"Okay, I feel stupid," Raph deadpanned.

Leo sighed. "April's gotta learn that T-Phones are for emergencies only."

"So, downloading that 'Space Heroes' game app was an emergency?" I asked, smirking at him.

Leo snapped his head towards me and opened his mouth to retort. But before he could say anything there was movement from above. I quickly looked up, and cringed. The old lady's head had turned completely to face us. Her large eyes were glowing bright red, and she had an almost plastic face.

"Ap-Ap-April O'Neil?" she said in a stuttered, robotic voice.

"Aw, sewer bunnies…" Raph grumbled.

The robot let out a loud a loud screech as she threw her arms up and they folded back, revealing two gaping holes where her elbows should be. Before we knew it two missiles had shot out of the hole and came straight at us. We jumped away at the last second, but the force of the blast still knocked us away. Donnie and Raph fell to the floor, but Leo, Mikey and I all landed on the stairs. Despite the slight pain, I was relieved that I fell on my back and not on my ribs.

"Leo!" Mikey shouted. "I think this does count as an-"

"An emergency! _I know_!" Leo snapped.

There was another loud screech, and the robot jumped up into the air and landed in between Leo and Mikey, who both jumped out of the way. I quickly got back on my feet, opening my tessen in the process. I looked up to see Raph leap at the robot, thrusting his sai forward. But the robot lifted her arm, and the blade went straight through her hand, causing purple sparks to shoot out. She then swung Raph around in the air several times before throwing him away, causing him to land on top of the trophy cases.

I didn't want to waste anymore time. I ran forward, holding my tessen at the ready. The robot turned her head towards me just as I threw my fan. She quickly ducked it, and I caught it when it came back to me. The robot whipped out what looked like a silver folder, and started throwing rectangular blades out at me. I leaped back and moved around to avoid the blades. She was about to throw another one when something creaked, and she looked up. I looked up in time to see Raph standing on top of one of the ceiling lights. He used his sai to cut the cables, and the thing came crashing down. The robot was able to jump away at the last minute, jumping back up to the upper floor.

"C'mon!" I said.

I ran up the stairs, Mikey, Donnie and Raph following behind me. We jumped up and landed on the upper floor, right behind Leo.

"Alright, guys," he said, smirking. "Let's put Old Mother Hubbard back in her cupboard!"

Me and the guys all groaned irritably, shaking our heads.

"Dude, it literally hurts to listen to you sometimes," said Raph, clearly annoyed.

"No offense, bro, but you seriously need to work on your punch lines," I said, frowning at him.

From ahead of us the robot opened up her arms again, and two more missiles shot out. Leo and Donnie ran forward as Raph threw some shuriken. The stars hit the missiles and exploded before they could hit the other two. Leo lifted his katanas as Donnie extracted his nignita blade from the end of his staff. The two brothers jumped from side to side, back and forth, trying to confuse the robot. It worked. At the last second they both leaped forward and swung their blades, slicing them through the robots arms. The arms fell to the ground, and surprisingly, so did the face. The robot straightened up, and I saw that there was nothing on the head except a silver plate with several twitching wires.

"Mikey!" Leo shouted. "The water fountain!"

"I know!" Mikey said, beaming at the water fountain. "School has everything!"

"No! Spray her!" Leo ordered.

"Oh!"

Mikey slammed his fist on the fountain button, and water sprayed out from the faucet. The water hit the robot in her face and she burst into a mess of purple sparks. The water stopped and the robot smoked before falling to the ground.

"April!" Donnie shouted as he sheathed his staff. "Where are you?"

_Slam!_ A door to a supply closet burst open, and April jumped out. She marched over to us and suddenly kicked the robot's head.

"And stay down!" she snapped.

I rolled my eyes, grinning. "Way to contribute, rookie."

April smiled at me before turning to look at all of us, putting a hand on Donnie's shouter.

"Thank you, guys!"

Donnie's cheeks went pink for a second. He turned and lifted his arms up, obviously waiting for a hug. When nothing happened, except that April raised her eyebrow at him, he faltered and awkwardly ruffled her hair.

"You are so welcome," he said, making a goofy smile as he lowered his arm.

I rolled my eyes. _Aw well. Next time, Donnie. _We all turned and looked down at the robot. The wires were still twitching and small sparks erupted.

"So, what the heck is that thing?" April asked.

"Looks like a Kraang-droid," said Leo. "Minus the Kraang."

"Where the heck did she even come from?" I said.

April answered, "She said she was from the Worldwide Genome Project."

"Whoa," said Mikey. "How did the Kraang know you sent your DNA spit to the Worldwide thingamajig project?"

Me and Raph both turned to look at him, and suddenly yelped. Mikey was holding the robot's metal face up to his, holding it like a mask. I frowned at Mikey as Raph growled, slapping him and knocking the mask away.

"Not funny, dude," I said simply.

"The Kraang must've hacked into their system," said Donnie. He and the other didn't seem to have noticed what just happened. "Who knows what kind of info they could be stealing?"

"April, you'd better head back to the lair, where it's safe," said Leo. "We'll go check out the Worldwide Genome Project."

"But first, we gotta take down the Eastside High Panthers!" said Mikey, who was looking at a large football poster handing on the wall. "According to that poster, they've got it comin'."

I rolled my eyes. "Way to keep your priorities straight, Mikey."

* * *

We swiftly ran across the rooftops, scanning the area for the facility of the Worldwide Genome Project. Bringing up the rear, I leapt up and landed on the roof of the next building. We all walked over to the edge and looked down. Right in front of us was the facility; a huge, round building that took up half the block.

"Let's move," said Leo.

It took us a good 10 minutes for us to get to the building(hey, that sucker was far away, okay?). Once we reached it we climbed up to the roof and looked around for the roof entrance. We soon found the door, but when I went to open it, it wouldn't budge.

"Locked," I said as I backed away from the door.

"So how do we get in?" Raph asked.

"Leave it to me," said Donnie, and he pulled out his T-Phone and his digital lock pick. "I've got an app for that."

At that, we all threw our heads back and groaned as Donnie walked up to the door. He put his lock pick in the lock, connected it to his phone, and started pressing buttons.

"This could take a while," I muttered to Raph.

Raph nodded. He marched over to the door and looked down at Donnie.

"I've got an app for that, too."

And without another word, Raph reared his foot back and slammed it against the door, kicking it open. As we all walked up I saw the irritated frown on Donnie's face. I smirked as I hunched over to look at him.

"I think his app worked pretty well, don't you?"

"Oh, hush!"

I giggled as I walked through the door, Donnie following right behind me.

As soon as we were inside I knew that something wasn't right. Now, I've never been inside any lab except Donnie's, but I was pretty sure that a human lab wasn't suppose to have technology that looked like it was centuries away from our generation.

"Yah know," Mikey muttered as we snuck through the hallway. "For a human lab, this place is awfully Kranngy…"

"Guys!" Leo hissed. "I think the Kraang _are_ the Worldwide Genome Project!"

Before we could say anything else we had already reached the door. Leo opened it, and we all quickly ran inside and hid before any Kraang could see us. Good thing, too. Because there were two Kraang-droids were inside, obviously standing guard. They had obviously heard the door closing, and turned around. As they were turned I watched as Mikey snuck up behind the two, and I heard him whisper to them "Booyakasha…". Before they could do more than turn and look at him Donnie sprang up from where he was hiding and smashed the two robots to the ground. Raph and Leo quickly ran up to them and started dragging the droids over to a spare room. They threw the robots in there and quickly shut the glass door. The tiny aliens popped out of their robot bodies and stuck to the glass, snarling at us.

"Now, you two play nice in there," Raph said, smirking as the poked the glass.

I rolled my eyes as I turned to look around. If this room didn't scream alien to anyone, I don't know what could. Aside from the giant mutagen tanker in the center of the room, there were what appeared to be in-wall columns, all filled with strange liquids, and all were different colors.

"What're those?" Leo asked, staring at the colorful columns.

"Well, it looks like they're collecting DNA samples from every plant and animal species on earth," Donnie answered.

"What?"

"Building blocks, dude," Mikey snorted. "I'll drop the science on yah later."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "I don't think you should have to explain science to anyone, Mikey."

"I wonder what they're doing with all this DNA," Donnie said, looking around.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Leo said firmly. "Let's shut this place down."

I glanced over at Mikey, and I was surprised to see him looking around, as though he had lost something.

"What is it, Mikey?" I asked.

He looked at me. "Where's Raph?"

"Gotcha!"

We all looked up towards the top of the mutagen tanker. Raph was up there, and he appeared to be pinning someone down on the ledge of the top. The person looked up, and I gasped.

"Karai!" said Leo.

"Ka-who?" Donnie said confusingly.

I groaned. "Ugh… please, not now."

"Bet yah think you're pretty slick," I heard Raph say to Karai.

Karai glared at him as she twisted the hand that Raph was holding, and twisted his own arm. She tripped Raph, spun him around on his shell, and slammed her foot on his plastron as she stood up.

"I have my moments," she said slyly.

Raph growled at her before pushing her off and jumping to his feet. They both withdrew their weapons at the same time, and charged at each other. Raph swung his sais at Karai, who blocked them before taking out her tanto. She kicked Raph in the chest and started swinging her sword at him, and Raph blocked with his sais.

"Leo," I said warningly.

"Raph, Karai! Stop it!" Leo yelled before jumping up.

"Okay, what the heck is goin' on here?" Donnie said irritably. "How do they know her?"

"Yeah, and how do we know her?" Mikey demanded, then he frowned. "Wait… Do we know her?"

I decided to say nothing and looked back up at the fight between Raph and Karia.

"So, this is the stuff that turns people into monsters, huh?" Karai said as she stopped Raph's oncoming blow. "How's it work?"

"Why don't yah lean in a little closer and I'll show yah," Raph snarled.

Karai shoved Raph away and kicked him, knocking him off the tanker. He landed on his feet on the ground, still holding his sais tightly. Karai jumped off and raised her tanto as headed straight for Raph, who stood up, his sais raised. But just as they were about to clash, Leo jumped in just in time and blocked both of their blows with his katanas.

"Enough!" he snapped. "You're gonna set off-"

They shoved their weapons off, causing Leo to trip and fall back, falling against the control panel that was connected all around the tanker. The lights went red and a loud siren started sounding, piercing my ears.

"…one of those," Leo sighed irritably.

"Nice goin', Leo!" Raph snapped. "You're protecting her? What's wrong with you? She's bad news!"

"No, she's not!"

"Yeah, I am," said Karai.

At that moment we all heard the sound of atomanic doors sliding open. I looked around me and saw that Kraang-droids were starting to fill the room, from here and the small upper level. Once the room was completely filled the droids stopped.

"The ones who are not authorized by the authority of Kraang to exist in this place, will now be destroyed by Kraang in this place," said the closest droid.

Donnie and Mikey both withdrew their weapons and I withdrew my tessen from its holster. We all got into defensive stances, ready to fight.

"This day just keeps getting better," Karai said, obviously entertained.

At once the Kraang started to fire at us and we jumped out of the way. I opened my tessen as I slide under a droid, slicing the blade by its ankle. I stood up behind it and kicked it to the ground. I saw two droids standing on either side of me, aiming their guns at me. I dropped down into a split at the last second, and the two droids shot each other down. I brought my legs in as I stood back up. I looked around in time to see Karai run forward as she threw her tanto at a droid. The blade hit the droid in the head, and she kicked it to the ground.

"Look! See?" I heard Leo call out. "She's on our side!"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Raph said incredulously.

"I like your brother, Leo," Karai said as she jumped over three droids and sliced them in half. "He's almost as entertaining as you."

"Oh, when this is over I'll show you how entertaining I can be," Raph growled menacingly, pointing the sai that had a droid's hand skewered on there at her.

I straightened up as I raised my tessen and threw it out, hitting several droids. Then I felt something grab my ankle, and I looked down to see a fallen droid grabbing me. I pulled out my right kama and stabbed the droid in the head. Another droid came up to me, but I stabbed its chest. I lifted my other hand and grabbed the tessen when it came back at me. I yanked out the kama and tucked it back into my belt.

"So," said Karai, and I turned to look at her. "You're a master of two weapons, huh? You might be more interesting than I thought."

"You say that like I should be honored," I said lowly.

"Well, in my opinion, you should be."

I caught movement out the corner of my eye, and I quickly threw my tessen out. It hit its target and hit the droid in the head. It crumpled to the ground in a heap.

"Well, your _opinion _is invalid as far as I'm concerned."

I glared at Karai before running forward and snatching my tessen out of the droid. From behind me I heard Karai laugh.

"Your sister's got spunk, Leo," she said. "She might just be as fun as you are."

I turned around to glare at her. But before I could do more there was the sound of something big moving on wheels. I looked around and saw what looked like a giant Kraang tank rolling in, a Kraang-droid standing on top of it.

"Kraang is now arriving to provide the help that has been requested by Kraang."

"We're trapped!" said Leo.

"No, _you're _trapped."

I tilted our heads to look past the droids and saw Karai standing by the control panel.

"What happens if I do _this_?" she said, pointing a threatening finger at a button.

"No!"

"Don't do that!"

"Highly undesirable outcome," said a Kraang-droid.

I could almost see Karai smirk underneath her mask as she said, "Well, now I gotta."

She lowered her finger down and pressed the button. There was a loud suction sound coming from all around us. I turned and looked up in time to see the colored DNA emptying upward and going to the section leading into the mutagen tanker. Mikey looked up at the column that contained cat DNA and shrieked like a little girl. The last of the DNA made its way into the tanker, and the mutagen started flashing multiple colors, starting to smoke around the edges. Me and the boys started back away slightly and Karai jumped back away from the control panel. Suddenly, there was a huge flash that blinded us, and it faded. I opened my eyes, and stared. There, right in front of us, was the weirdest mutated creature. It had the body of an octopus, but had the head of what was probably a cobra, large eyes that looked like they were attached by purple slim, and it had pointed, floppy ears. It looked down at us, and meowed.

"Aww, he's so cute!" Mikey cooed.

The thing's head suddenly extended upward, it's eyes protruded outward, and it opened it's large mouth and roared. It raised one of its tentacles and slammed it on the ground.

"Bloody hell!" I shouted as I jumped out of the way.

"Wow, that is wicked!" said Karai.

I frowned at her. "You are so twisted."

"How the heck am I gonna name _this_?" Mikey said, staring up at the new mutant.

"Good question," said Karai, and I looked over to see her now carrying the top half of a Kraang-droid on her back. "Well, see yah."

She ran off, leaping upward to the upper level and opening a door.

"You're not gonna help us beat this thing?" Leo called out to her. "It's _your _fault!"

Karai looked down at him. "I'll let the heroes handle it."

Leo glared up at her. "I trusted you!"

"I know! That's messed up, right?"

And with that, she leaped out the door and vanished. I glared after her.

"Unbelievable…!"

Suddenly, several Kraang-droids came up and started firing at the creature. It roared and turned, heading straight for Leo, who ran in our direction.

"So, guys," Raph said to me and the others. "We all fans of Karai yet?"

"I don't know who she is, but I know I _hate her_!" Donnie shouted.

We all turned around and started running in the opposite direction, coincidently towards the Kraang. But they weren't firing at us, but at the creature.

"Hey, look Leo!" Raph said sarcastically. "The Kraang are on our side now!"

"Save it," Leo snapped.

We all ran straight into the Kraang, slicing them up as we went through them. From behind us the mutant slammed into the Kraang's tank, knocking it down. One of its tentacles shot out and grabbed Raph, holding him up into the air. Raph pushed against the appendage and loosened the grip, landing on his feet on the ground.

"Nice try, Octo-punk!" he shouted before he was shoved away by a tentacle.

"No! No," Mikey said quickly. "Call him… Octo-Eyeball Jellybug!"

He held his arms out, waiting for a response. I straightened up and stared at him.

"Is that the best you could come up with?" I asked.

Mikey sighed. "Ehh… Let's just call him Justin."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Mikey was shoved aside by the creature's tentacle and slammed against the wall. Another one same down on Raph and smashed him to the floor. Donnie tried to run at the thing, but suddenly, electricity shot out of the creature's eyeballs and shocked Donnie, who screamed and fell to the floor. I gasped, looking at all my brothers with worry. A second later something grabbed my ankle and I was lifted into the air. I gasped as the face of the mutant closed in on me, and it roared. Spit splattered on my face, and I groaned in disgusts.

"Nia!"

I tilted my head back to look at Leo. He reached behind him and threw several shuriken in my direction. The stars hit the mutant's tentacles, and the thing shrieked before releasing me. I yelped as I fell towards the ground. But before I landed Leo caught me in his arms and leaped back away from the mutant. He set me down on the ground gently, still looking at the mutant.

"Stay here," he said.

He let out an angry noise before running at the screeching mutant, who started firing more electric shot. Leo dodge all of the shots. While he was doing that, I turned around and went to check on the guys. I ran over to Donnie's limp form and kneeled beside him.

"Donnie, are you ok?" I asked, shaking him slightly.

Donnie groaned before lifting his head, holding it with his hand.

"A little fried," he said. "But, I'm okay."

I nodded. I stood up and ran over to the other two, who were already sitting up and rubbing their heads.

"Raph, Mikey. You guys good?"

"Yeah… we're good," Raph muttered.

"Dude, Justin's a jerk," Mikey said grumpily.

I turned my head to see what Leo was doing. I watched as he slide down one of Justin's tentacles and land behind him.

"Hey, Justin!" Leo shouted. "This ends now!"

Justin screeched before shooting another bold of electricity. The bolt connected with Leo's katana, and he grunted in pain. He raised is other katana and connected the handles, letting the electricity flow through both. He let out a loud yell before lunging forward and stabbing the mutagen tanker. That part of the tanker exploded, and the explosion hit Justin. The creature was engulfed in acid green flames, screeching and writhing in agony. It slammed into the wall, forming a giant hole before falling down to the floor.

"Ha! Take that, Justin!" Mikey shouted.

"C'mon! Let's get outta here!" Leo ordered.

I was surprised that we were able to escape the burning building in one piece. But, you know, we're ninjas, so… yeah. We were able to get across the street and climb up to the nearest fire escape. We sat there and hid for a while before we saw fire trucks and police cars starting to appear. We knew that the humans would be able to take it from here.

I turned away from the scene of the burning building and looked around at my bros. Only now did I realize that there was a tense, awkward silence amongst us.

"So…" Mikey said lowly.

"We're thinking _somebody_ should start talking," Donnie said firmly.

Me and Raph turned to look at Leo. He didn't look at us for a moment, but a second later he turned and glanced up at me.

"No way out of it now," I told him. "You gotta tell them."

Leo sighed, hanging his head in shame…

* * *

The walk back home that night was the most awkward thing I've ever witnessed. The other two said they would wait until they got back to the lair to hear Leo's explanation, but that didn't make their glares go away either.

"I should've told you about Karai sooner," Leo explained lowly. "But, I-I really thought there was a chance she would be good! And… I guess I… short of… _liked_ her…"

I folded my arms. "'Sort of'?" I said. "You were practically drooling over her the first time you saw her."

Leo glanced up at me, then sighed.

"Okay, fine… I _really_ liked her."

There was a short pause. All of us stared at Leo, but Leo didn't look at us.

"Go ahead. Laugh."

"We're not laughing," I said. "We're just confused."

"No kidding," said Mikey. "Dude, I can't believe you _trusted _her."

"I can't believe you didn't trust _us _enough to tell us," said Donnie.

Leo looked up at us. "I was wrong. I'm really sorry…"

"I tried to warn him," said April.

"You too, huh?" Raph said shortly.

From behind us, Sensei stepped into the pit and approached his on. I thought I saw Leo gulp as he looked up at our master.

"Leonardo," Splinter started. "You are not the first young man, or turtle, to make a fool of yourself over a girl."

"What about Donnie?" Mikey asked, and Donnie suddenly slapped his arm hard.

"However," Sensei continued. "When that girl is a kunoichi and the employee of your enemy, that is an error you cannot afford."

Leo bowed his head. "Hai, Sensei."

"Deception is the ninja's most powerful weapon, and it seems Karai is a master."

"I know," said Leo. "We can't trust her, I see that now."

"Good," Sensei put a hand on his sons shoulder. "You must learn from your mistake."

Leo grinned as Splinter lowered his hand and turned away.

"Thank you for understanding," he said. "I'm glad you're not mad."

Sensei's eyes narrowed. "Who says I'm not mad?"

Sensei suddenly brought the end of his staff down on Leo's foot, and he did it really hard.

"Ow!"

Leo grabbed his foot, hopping up and down on the other until he suddenly tipped over and fell. Me and the others laughed at our brother's clumsiness.

"Well, I don't know about you guys!" Mikey sprang to his feet. "But I'm hungry! How about those pizza omelets, huh?"

"Sweet!" I cheered as the others nodded.

We all stood up, Mikey leading the way to the kitchen. After what we went through tonight, some good old pizza omelets sounded amazing. But just as I was about to enter the kitchen I felt Raph poke my shoulder.

"What?"

I pointed toward the hall way where our rooms were. I saw Leo walking in that direction, his shoulders slumped. I looked at Raph, and he looked at me. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. Abandoning the kitchen for now, we changed courses and started heading for Leo instead.

"Yo, Leroy!"

Leo stopped walking and groaned.

"Not again…"

"Oh yes, again," I said as we caught up to him. "After what you've done, that's the least you deserve."

Leo turned around to face us, frowning slightly. A second later he shrugged.

"Fair enough."

"Hey, bro," Raph started. "We're glad you came to your senses."

Leo chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, you were right. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Aw, don't blame yourself, dude," I said, punching his arm slightly.

"Yeah. Besides," Raph smirked as he folded his arms. "I can see why you'd think she's hot. In an… evil kinda way."

I raised my brows as I turned to stare at Raphael.

"Seriously?"

He shrugged. "What? I like tough girls."

I snorted. "Good to know."

Leo chuckled slightly. "Yeah, well, don't worry," he said. "I am _so _over that."

Raph grinned, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder before turning and walking away. I turned and followed him. Raph went straight into the kitchen, but I paused at the curtain. I looked back, and was not completely surprised to see Leo standing there, a glum look on his face. I looked at him sadly, then quickly smiled.

"Hey Leo," I called out, and he looked up. "Mikey's gonna make his pizza omelets. You want in?"

Leo blinked, looking surprised at being invited to join in. Then, to my relief, he smiled back.

"Definitely."

I smiled at him as he ran up and went through the kitchen curtain, and I followed after him.


	22. The Pulverizer

Ch. 17  
The Pulverizer

Things were being exceptionally quiet and boring so far for me and the boys tonight. And by 'boys' I meant Leo, Raph and Mikey. Donnie was currently off somewhere down the railroad track doing something- I don't know what. And I say boring and quiet because the brainiac had come bursting from his lab earlier, saying that he had finished something and he had to show us. Seeing as how he had been working on this thing for most of the day and still wouldn't tell us what it was, we eagerly agreed. But, that was over half an hour ago, and the guys and I are still just sitting outside the lair, waiting for Donnie to return with his new contraption.

"Ugh, what's takin' so long?" Mikey groaned irritably. "Donnie knows I have a short atten- Ooh, gum!"

"Mikey, don't you dare!" I snapped.

Mikey ignored me and picked up the disgusting chewed up morsel off the railroad floor. Raph took the physical alternative and smacked his little brother upside the head, causing said brother to drop the gum.

"Man, this better be worth it," Raph sighed angrily, folding his arms.

"I'm sure Donnie wouldn't drag us out here if it weren't," I told him.

I had barley finished before I heard the squeaking sound of wheels on the tracks. We all turned our heads to look down the subway path in time to see headlights pass around the corner. Suddenly, a subway car of which I had never seen before started driving up the track and slowly came to a halt in front of us. I knew that it must've been Leatherhead's old subway car, but it was practically unrecognizable; repainted with artistic, multicolored graffiti and with what looked like a cannon on the roof, this thing looked like the love child of a hippie van and a tank.

"Was it worth it?" I asked Raph, not taking my eyes off the monster.

"Yep."

There was a loud bell sound and the car doors slid open to reveal Donnie. He leaned against the doorway, a wide, smug smirk on his face.

"So…?" he said, waiting for us to respond.

"You turned Leatherhead's old subway car into _this_?" Leo asked, staring up at the vehicle.

Raph, who still had a dumbfounded look on his face, looked at Donnie and said, "Donnie, have I ever told you how awesome you are?"

Donnie seemed to smirk more. "No, you haven't."

"Well, I'm _seriously_ considering it."

I gaped at him. "Considering? Hell, I'll go ahead and say it; Donnie, you're amazing!"

"Thanks."

Mikey walked forward and pressed his hands against the surface of the car, rubbing it for a moment before putting his head against it.

"What do you call this thing?" Leo asked Donnie.

"Well, it's a transaxle, multi-armored, electromagnetic-"

"_Shellraiser!_" Mikey cut across him, a look of triumph on his face.

We all turned to stare at him, he stared back.

"What?" said Donnie.

"The Shellraiser!" Mikey beamed. "It's the perfect name!"

I glanced over to look at the other three, and somehow, I knew what they were all thinking.

"That _is_ the perfect name," Leo admitted.

"Of course it is, bro! You guys always underestimate me," Mikey glanced down and his eyes widened. "Ooh, gum!"

Before he could move I jumped forward and grabbed his wrist, preventing him from grabbing the piece.

"Don't…" I warned slowly.

Mikey looked from me to the gum then back again. A second later he shrugged and nodded. I released him.

"Come on in," said Donnie. "Check it all out."

One by one, we all entered the Shellraiser. It looked just as sweet on the inside as it did on the outside. Even before Donnie flipped the switched and powered the car up I saw five different seats that seemed to represent stations- one in the front that was obviously the driver's seat, and four more in the back. Donnie walked further into the car and sat down at one of the four stations in the back.

"Now, I've assigned everyone to a station based on your individual skill sets," he added shortly. "I can't drive because my station's in the back, so-"

The boys cut him off and yelled "Driver!" all at once before they all made a B-line for the front. I stepped back, pressing myself against the wall as they all ran forward, bumping into each other as they made for the driver's seat. Donnie sprang to his feet and slammed his Bo staff in front of them, making them freeze.

"Leo drives," he said simply.

Leo, looking smug, moved around his brothers and sat in the driver's seat.

"Why?" the other two asked in unison.

"He's least likely to hit something just for fun."

"True," they said.

"So, what're our stations?" I asked.

"Over there," Donnie gestured to the back. "Raph, you're on weapons station. Mikey, you've got navigation, and no fooling around or else," he added, pointing a threatening finger at the orange-banded turtle.

The two brothers went past me and sat down at their assigned stations, sitting in their seats and getting the feel of the area. Raph's spot had what looked like the trigger to some weapon, and Mikey sat in front of a screen that had a huge map on it.

"Nia, you're in weapons with Raph," said Donnie. "You can help him reload if necessary and you'll take control of the cannon when needed. Think you can handle it?"

I grinned and gave him a playful salute. "Sir, yes sir!"

Donnie grinned. "Good."

He turned and went to his station as I went to mine, and sat down in the seat behind Raph. I reached up to grabbed the seatbelt and put it on, the other two doing the same.

"So," I heard Leo call from the front. "How do we get this baby going?"

I turned my head around to look at Donnie, and saw that he was communicating with Leo through one of the several screens that were set up in front of him.

"Okay, just _ease_ the throttle forward, ever so slight-"

But before he could even finish the car lunged forward and started moving quickly, causing all of us to jerk back and shout in surprise. I let out an excited laugh, and Raph whooped.

"Whoo! What's powering this thing?"

"The Kraang power cell we got from Leatherhead," Donnie answered.

"I thought you said that was dangerous," Leo said worriedly. "Like the Kraang could track it."

"That's why I put it under a lead glass shield," Donnie folded his arms, looking as smug as before. "Now, I can regulate the output and prevent the Kraang from detecting its signal."

"I hate to interrupt," Mikey called up. "But, _dead end!_"

My head snapped up to look at the screens, and my jaw dropped when I saw a fast approaching solid brick wall.

"Uh, D-Donnie!" Leo called nervously. "How do I stop this thing?"

"Don't!"

"What?"

"Trust me!"

I reached up and grabbed the back of my head rest, desperate for something to hold onto. I didn't know what Donnie was thinking, but I hoped it wasn't going to get us killed. The rest of the boys started screaming as the wall got closer and closer, and eventually I screamed too. The only one who wasn't screaming was Donnie, who, for some reason, had a smile on his face.

Donnie then reached over and pressed a button on his station, and the wall in front of us suddenly opened up to a ramp, revealing the street outside. We drove up the ramp and swung out into the street before Leo pressed the gas and we spud off.

"Donnie, you're _awesome_!" Raph yelled out happily.

"Hope you got that on camera, Donnie!" I called up to him. "'Cause he's probably never gonna say that again!"

Donnie laughed. "Worth it!"

"This thing have a stereo?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, what kind of speakers you got on this baby?" I asked, sounding excited.

"What good would this thing be without some tunes?" Donnie asked. "And I built in an advanced surround sound stereo."

He reached up to a set of buttons that sat on the wall beside him and pressed one, and what was obviously classical piano music started playing throughout the car.

"Are you serious?" Raph said, not sounding impressed anymore.

I raised my brow as I turned to look at my brother. "Yeah, no offense Don, but I'm more of a 'Fall Out Boy' kinda girl."

But Donnie just grinned. "Check out the second movement."

He pressed another button, and suddenly heavy metal music starting roaring through the speakers on full blast. I blinked, slightly surprised, but very pleased.

"Not much of a metal head," I shouted above the music. "But I'm diggin' it!"

"Don't fight the metal, dudette!" Mikey shouted happily.

I laughed as the others started dancing in their seats- minus Leo of course- and pretty soon I was dancing with them. Mikey was so amped up that he jumped up and stood up on his chair. What made things a more fun was how fast Leo was going and the way he swerved and turned, making the car sway. The people outside probably thought some rogue teens were going for a joyride in a graffiti covered tank. Well… technically, they'd be right.

Leo made a very sharp turn that caused the car to tip slightly. Mikey hollered as he leaped up and grabbed the safety handles from the top of the car, and he ended up swaying with the car's movements. Soon Donnie got up and joined him, then me, and then Raph. Leo started making the car do doughnuts, and the force swung us around on the bars. We whooped and hollered, laughing our heads off. I couldn't remember the last time we had this much fun. Leo then gave sharp twist, and the doughnuts ended.

The boys and I dropped down from the bars and started to make our way back to our stations. All except Raph, who leaped up and opened the top hatch of the car. I looked up to see him hanging here, looking smug. I rolled my eyes. A second later he started banging his fist on the roof.

"Leo, pull over!" Raph shouted.

Steadily, Leo pulled the car over and put it to a stop. Raph dropped back inside as we all hopped out of our seats and ran to the front where Leo still sat in the driver's seat. I looked up at the screen that showed the outside and immediately saw- you guessed it- the Purple Dragons. The leader (I'm still calling him Goatee) seemed to be carrying a large box, obviously stolen.

"Purple Dragons!" Leo laughed. "This night just keeps getting better and better!"

"Oh yeah!" Raph jeered, cracking his knuckles. "It's like candy for my knuckles, and tonight's Halloween!"

I smirked over at the others. "No too old for Trick-or-Treating yet, are yah, boys?"

"Wait a minute," Donnie squinted at the screen. "Who's that?"

I turned to look back up at the screen and noticed a fourth figure out there, crouched on top of a dumpster. I couldn't see him clearly in the dark, but I could tell he was looking down at the Dragons. The gang halted as soon as they saw the figure on the dumpster and looked up at him.

"_Excuse me, boys, I think you forgot to pay for that," _the figure stood up. _"But, don't worry. I accept cash, check, or _teeth_!"_

"Huh… That was a pretty good line," Leo said, sounding impressed.

"Yeah," I said. "He could probably give you some tips."

Leo glared at me for a second before looking back at the screen.

"_What're you gonna do?" _Goatee tanted as he dropped the box of stolen items. _"There's one of you and three of us."_

"_Oh, you wanna call a couple friends, make it even?"_

The figure jumped down from the dumpster, standing tall in front of the gang.

"This guy's got guts!" Raph said, very impressed.

The vigilante walked towards the Dragons, and I was able to see that he was tall and slightly heavyset.

"_It's time to feel the wrath of… The Pulverizer!"_

Mikey giggled. "This is gonna be great!"

The Pulverizer finally made a move, and resorted to flail his arms and legs, making pathetic punches and kicks. He looked like he was trying to beat off an annoying fly.

"Or not…" Leo said slowly.

The Pulverizer stood in front of the Dragons, who cracked their knuckles and started to march forward.

"Oh, geez…" I sighed.

The second the kid got punched me and the boys made a loud "ooh!" I closed my eyes and turned away when I saw a particularly hard hit get delivered to the guys' throat. I don't know why, but I _really_ hate neck injuries!

"Oh, the Pulverizer's gettin' just…" Mikey paused. "Well, I don't know the word, but, we gotta help him!"

I was the first to reach the car door and I was the first to jump out and start running towards the poor kid. As I ran I could see him picking himself off the ground, the Dragons standing over him. It was clear that they weren't done with him yet. But before anything else could happened me and the others ran forward and surrounded them, weapons drawn.

"How do you like the odds now, Fong?" Leo asked, cracking his knuckles.

"Wow! The turtles!" The Pulverizer said, beaming up at us.

"How does he know who we-"

But Donnie was cut off as Goatee ran up and punched him. I glared at him and ran forward, tessen in hand. He turned around in time to block my oncoming punch, but I side kicked him in the leg and then hit his jaw with the end of my fan. He went down just as I felt something grab my ankle and yank, causing me to fall. I quickly flipped onto my back and jumped back up to my feet. It was Mustache, and he was running straight at me.

"Nia, duck!"

At Leo's voice I quickly ducked down, and a second later there was the sound of flesh against flesh, and I saw Mustache go down. I straightened back up and looked around. Bulky was down and Mustache was still fighting Leo, but where was Goatee? I whipped my head around to look for him and spotted him, running away with the box of stolen goods.

"Leo!" I shouted.

"Fong's getting away!" he yelled.

"Oh no, he don't!"

I turned to see Mikey whip out his kusarigama chain and swung it out towards Goatee, but…

"I got him!"

The Pulverizer ran at Goatee, reaching for him. But he ended up getting caught in Mikey's chain and fell to the ground. Goatee continued running, went through an alley, and disappeared.

"Oh dang," Pulverizer groaned. "Almost had him."

"Not cool, man," said Mikey, yanking his chain back and pulling it off of Pulverizer.

Suddenly, the sound of police sirens echoed in the distance. Bulky and Mustache turned and ran after their leader.

"Cops!" Leo yelled. "We gotta go!"

At once we all turned and ran off, sprinting towards the Shellraiser. I put my tessen in its sheath before running after the others.

"Oh, hey!" I heard Pulverizer shout. "Uh, great teamwork guys!"

"Look," Raph stopped by the car door as the rest of us jumped in. "I don't know who you think you are, or what you think you're doin', but _don't_!"

The dude appeared not to have heard him. "Yeah, maybe sometime we can get together and-"

Raph grabbed the guy, turned him around, and jumped into the car and slammed the doors shut.

"Well, that was disappointing," I said as I sat in my station.

"Tell me about it," Raph groaned as he slumped in his seat.

Leo started the car up and drove just as Donnie turned the music back on. I started head banging slightly to the music, but I couldn't help but notice that the beat seemed off at times.

"You guys hear something?" Leo asked.

"Besides the music, no," I answered.

The others made similar statements, and the ride continued on without any altercations.

* * *

I think I must have dozed off on the way home, because I soon found myself being shaken awake by Raph.

"Wake up, Sleepin' Beauty," he said, shoving my shoulders. "We're home."

"Yeah, yeah…" I mumbled, taking my seat belt off and standing up.

I stretched my back out as I followed the boys to the car door. They opened up, and I heard thud outside that sounded like somebody falling on the ground. Donnie, who was in the front, poked his head out to look.

"We got a problem!"

He stepped out, and the rest of us leaned out to look. I looked down and saw, to my surprise, the Pulverizer lying face down on the ground. Donnie kneelt beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What the-?" Leo snapped.

"Oh, no," I said, jumping down to kneel next to the Pulverizer. "We must've accidently dragged him off with us."

"Are you okay?" Donnie asked, helping the Pulverizer sit up.

"Oh, sure," he groaned and gripped his stomach. "Ugh… Y-you can survive with just one kidney, right?"

"I'm sure kidneys are still intact, dude," I told him.

I lifted my head up to see the others had gotten out, and Raph was glaring down at the Pulverizer.

"Great!" he snapped. "First this _doofus_ gets in the way of a good Purple Dragon stompin', and now he knows where our lair is?"

"Oh, no problem," Pulverizer piped up. "I blacked out most of the way here."

I touched his shoulder. "You sure you're okay?"

Pulverizer turned to look at me. A second later his eyes widened and he gave me a goofy grin.

"Wow…" he leaned in closer and I backed my face away. "You're _way_ prettier up close!"

I gaped at him. "Uhh…"

Before I could say anything I was grabbed by the shoulders and brought to my feet. I turned my head in time to see that it was Raph. He got in front of me and leaned over to poke Pulverizer hard in the chest.

"Back off, buddy," he growled. "She's not on the market."

Raph stood up in front of me, folding his arms as the Pulverizer rubbed the spot on his chest where Raph had poked him.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"No problem."

"Anyways," Donnie stood up. "How do you even know we exist?"

"Oh, I saw you months ago!" the Pulverizer sprang to his feet as he beamed at us. "I was doing my homework when I heard noises outside. I looked out my window across the street at the building next door, and I saw you guys fighting this guy in a giant metal suit."

"Stockman," I said, looking at the others, who all exchanged looks before looking back at Pulverizer.

"Go on," said Leo.

"Oh, it was awesome!" he pointed at Leo, "You were like, 'Let's finish this!'" he pointed at Raph, "Oh, and you were like all 'You're goin' down!'" he pointed at Mikey, "Oh, and then you were like all, "Bees…!'" he pointed at me. "You were all 'That's what I'm talking about!'" he pointed at Donnie, "Oh, and you were like… you were like the strong silent type…"

"You should talk more during a fight," I whispered to Donnie, who raised his brow at me.

"Dudes," said Mikey. "We- have- a _stalker_!"

"You inspired me to become a hero!" Pulverizer continued. "I saw you guys and thought, 'what do they got that I haven't got?'"

"Years of training under a grand master of ninjutsu," Donnie said bluntly.

"No, an awesome costume! Where'd you get yours, by the way," he looked at me. "And why aren't you wearing one?"

"Uhh, we're not wearing costumes," said Donnie. "We're mutants."

"Except for me," I said. "I am, in fact, human."

"Right," Pulverizer said sarcastically. But he looked at us for a second before reaching over and poking Mikey's arm, then touching his shell. "Cool! How do I do that?"

"You! Stop talking!" Raph snapped, then he turned to face us. "We gotta get him outta here."

"How do you purpose we do that?" I asked.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" a voice shouted. "Hey, what's with all the pizza boxes?"

We all turned around and saw that the Pulverizer was now running around inside the living room.

"Oh, hell no," I said as me and the others leaped up over the turnstiles.

By the time we got into the living room the Pulverizer had already gotten into Donnie's lab. We all ran in there after him and saw him holding a small beaker of liquid.

"Hey!" Donnie snapped, snatching the beaker and putting it down. "Don't touch that!"

"Hey, what's this?"

Pulverizer picked up a Kraang-droid remote that we had gotten from our last Kraang fight. Donnie glared and snatched it out of his hands.

"That looks like the stuff those guys were stealin'," said Pulverizer.

"That's impossible," said Donnie. "It's Kraang tech."

"Wh-what's a Kraang?"

"If we told you, we'd have to kill you," Raph said, then paused for a moment. "..You see, the Kraang are aliens from another dimension."

Both me and Leo shoved Raph's shoulders.

"Why would the Purple Dimwits want Kraang robotics?" Leo asked. "It's not like they know what to do with it."

"Unless their stealing it for someone else," said Raph.

"Who do we know who would be interesting in stolen, evil robot parts?" Donnie asked, rubbing his chin.

We all looked around, thinking for a moment. Then it hit me. Donnie, Raph, Leo and I all said "Baxter Stockman," at the same time. But Mikey said "Donatello." We all turned to look at him, and he looked at us.

"Baxter Stockman," he said finally.

"We'll check it out," said Leo. "Donnie, fix the Shellraiser and take Captain Rubberpants home."

"What?" he snapped. "Wait! Why do I have to…?"

But they were got before he could stop them.

"Nia!" Donnie grabbed my arm. "Please, don't leave me with him!"

I stared up at him before leaning over to look at Pulverizer. He saw me looking at him and, leaning against the lab table, smirked and winked at me. I cringed.

"Sorry, bro!" I said, prying Donnie's hand off me. "No can do!"

"Wait, Nia!" Donnie shouted. "Don't do this to me! Nia!"

But I just waved as I ran out of the lab.

* * *

It wasn't hard for us to find Stockman. Turns out he was hiding out in the same place he was when he first made his Mousers. The guys and I stayed quiet and stealthy as we made our way through the facility, navigating our way to where Stockman was. We found him eventually, along with the Purple Dragons. Once Leo gave us the signal, we all jumped down from the ceiling beams and landed before them.

"Baxter Stockman!" Leo said, and said person looked around at us. "Whatever you're up to with those robotic parts, it ends now!"

Stockman smirked, and I couldn't help but feel creeped out at the way he was looking at us.

"You wanna see what I'm working on? Well, here it comes."

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. From behind him leapt a large red creature that was obviously a giant mutant fish, and it landed in front of us. It had been a long time since any of us had seen Xever. In fact, the last time we saw him was the night we first fought the Shredder. He had gotten hit with mutagen and turned into a fish. He was still a fish, but he now appeared to have some sort of water tubes attached to the spots where his gills were. What was more, he had now been given a pair of giant, robotic legs.

We all stared at Xever, surprised for a moment. A second later we all burst into fits of laughter.

"Look!" Leo jeered. "Sushi that delivers itself!"

I snorted. Xever growled at us. He then punched a nearby file cabinet so that it was launched into the air. He leapt up and used his leg to kick the cabinet, and it shot down at us. We all leapt away to avoid collision, and the cabinet hit the wall instead.

"I don't know about you," I said. "But I don't like it when my sushi's violent."

"Dude, Fishface is a little sensitive!" Mikey exclaimed.

"You're calling him 'Fishface'?" Leo asked.

"Well, it was that or 'Robocarp'."

Suddenly, Fishface leapt forward and kicked Mikey in his chest, sending him flying backwards. He slammed into the wall and fell in a heap.

"Ugh… Pretty good, pretty good…" he groaned.

"Important safety tip," said Raph. "Avoid the legs!"

The red-banded turtle charged at Fishface, sais raised. The mutant fish leaped up, aiming a kick at Raph's face, and Raph ducked to avoid it. He went forward for a jab, but Fishface leapt back so that his legs landed against the wall, then pushed himself off, heading straight for Raph. Before I could see what happened I heard footsteps from behind us. I whipped around and saw Goatee running straight at me. I glared at him before I reached into my pockets and threw a few stars at him. He stopped running and ducked out of the way of the stars.

"Nice try, dude," I said. "Don't do it again.

"What do yah got besides legs?" I heard Raph taunt.

I turned back around and was surprised to see that Raph was now using his sais to pin Fishface by his legs against the wall. Fishface growled at him before leaning up, hissing loudly, and suddenly clapped his jaws into Raph's shoulder.

"Aggh!"

Raph used his sais to punch Fishface in his jaw, and the mutant fish released him before stepping away, groaning in pain. Raph stumbled back, dropping his sais as he gripped his shoulder. I gasped when he suddenly fell to his knees.

"Teeth…" he groaned. "I think they're… poison…"

And Raph fell forward onto his plastron.

"Raph!" I shouted.

At once, Mikey and I both ran forward and knelt beside Raph, turning him onto his shell so we could see him.

"Raph, are you okay?" Mikey asked urgently.

"Huh? Sure… yeah…"

Raph opened his eyes, and I could see them rolling around, making him look disoriented. At that moment I saw movement from in front of me and looked up. The Purple Dragon, Bulky, was running straight at us, his fist raised. He was about to attack, and Mikey, who still had his eyes on Raph, hadn't seen him yet.

"Mikey, watch-"

But before I could even finish Mikey lifted up his nunchuck, wrapped it around Bulky's wrist, and threw the big guy right over us, all without even looking away from his brother. Staring in surprise for only a second, I quickly looked back down at Raph. He lazily lifted one of his hands up and Mikey grasped it, I put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Raph, are you sure you're okay?"

"Wha…? Ooh…I'm fine…" Raph's eyes continued to roll and he turned his head towards me. "I love you…"

I blinked. "Oh no…"

"He's not fine!" Mikey shouted.

"Call Donnie!" Leo ordered, gripping his katanas. "Tell him we need an antidote. Nia, stay there and keep the others away from Mikey and Raph."

I nodded before looking back down at Raph. Mikey took out his T-Phone and dialed Donnie's number.

"C'mon, c'mon…" he whined.

"Easy, Mikey," I said, trying to keep him calm.

We both looked around the room, him still gripping Raph's hand and me holding Raph's shoulder, both trying to make sure no one came near us.

"Got it!"

I looked around as I heard Donnie's voice on the other line.

"Donnie! We need help!" Mikey cried. "Raph's been bitten by a giant, poisonous, robotic fish!"

"_That's not possible!" _I heard Donnie say. _"If he was bitten it's venom, not poison."_

Mikey seemed to be glaring at the phone. "Interesting, interesting… GET OVER HERE!"

I backed away slightly, surprised at Mikey's outburst. But, honestly, I couldn't blame him with the situation going on.

"_Alright, alright! Just stay on the line, I'll be right back!"_

"Mikey…" Raph groaned, and he giggled. "You're so smart… like the smartest guy I know… Heh…"

"Jesus," I muttered.

"_Guys! You still there?"_ Donnie's voice came from the phone.

"Yeah, we're here!" I said.

"_What're his symptoms?"_

"He keeps telling me I'm the smartest guy he knows," said Mikey.

"_Okay okay, he's delusional …"_ Donnie muttered. _"How's his color?"_

"Green, man. And I mean, _way _more than usual!"

My head snapped up when I saw movement, and I saw Stockman and Mustache both standing behind us, the Dragon with gas tank and the other with a pipe. I glared up at them as Mikey snapped his head around to stare daggers at them. They both gave us looks of surprise before we both sprang at them, Mikey going at Stockman. I leapt up and kicked the tank out of Mustache's hands before doing a handstand on his shoulders. I flipped forward, bringing him back with me so that he was bending backwards. I glared down at him before flattening my hand and giving him a hard chop on his Adam's apple. He gaged as I spun around and flipped him over, and he landed on the ground in a heap. He groaned in pain as I looked over to see that Mikey was standing over Stockman, who had his hands held up in the air in surrender.

"_Does he have any nausea?" _Donnie asked urgently.

"Nah, he doesn't have any-"

But Mikey was cut off as we both heard a harsh grunting, and then a sickening splash. I pinched my nose before turning around to see a pile of sick just a few inched from Raph's face.

"Ooh! Check that!" Mikey groaned in disgust, but then his eyes widened. "What the- I knew you ate my pizza! You _lair_!"

Ignoring the smell, I ran forward and grabbed Raph's shoulders.

"Mikey, help me move him!"

Mikey ran forward and gripped his legs. Together we both helped move him, avoiding the pile of mess. Suddenly there was a yell from behind me and I whipped around. I looked just in time to see Fishface slam Leo into the ground with his metal, robotic leg. Fishface lifted his head up, and smirked at us.

"Donnie, get here now!" Mikey yelled into the phone.

I sprang to my feet. "Mikey, stay with Raph!"

I yanked my kamas out as I ran out towards Fishface, who took his foot off Leo and ran at me as well. I threw my right kama straight at him, and it just barely missed his head as he ducked. I leapt up, raising my kama as I came down towards him. But he sprang up, grabbed my wrist, and then threw me to the floor. I lost my grip on my kama as I rolled over a few times. Once I had stopped I lifted my head, and gasped when I saw Mikey get kicked across the room by Fishface.

"Mikey!"

Suddenly the wall opposite me exploded, and the Shellraiser burst from it. It swerved and skidded to a halt before the cannon on top turned towards Fishface. There was a loud bang, and what looked like a ball of compressed garbage shot out and slammed into Fishface, knocking him aside.

"So, that's what it's for," I muttered.

The car doors opened, and both Donnie and the Pulverizer jumped out and ran over to us. I got to my feet and grabbed my kamas as I ran over to join them near the still disoriented Raph.

"Raph, you still with us, buddy?" Donnie said as he kneelt beside his brother.

Raph turned his head to face him. "Donnie?"

"Yeah, Raph?"

"Why are there fingers on my feet?"

I covered my mouth as I let out a small giggle. Now that the situation had died down I felt no need to hold back.

"Hang in there, buddy," Donnie said as he pulled out a syringe gun. "You'll be okay."

He lowered the syringe and stuck the needle in Raph's arm. Raph closed his eyes, shaking his head, and a moment later he reopened his eyes, and this time he looked much more focused.

"Thanks… magical unicorn…"

I raised my eyebrow. "Are you sure that worked?"

"It'll be a minute until it takes effect," Donnie said as he helped Raph to his feet. "But, he'll be fine."

"That was awesome!" The Pulverizer cheered. "We saved him!"

"_We _saved him?!" Donnie snapped. "You wanted to stop and sell ice cream! If I hadn't jumped and smashed through that wall-!"

"Uh, Donnie?" Mikey spoke up. "Is the Shellraiser supposed to do that?"

We all turned to face the Shellraiser, and I received a shock when I saw glowing, pink electricity traveling over the car.

"Oh, no…" Donnie muttered.

He sprinted to the Shellraiser, and we all followed him. As soon as he was in Donnie ran to the back and kneeled down to where the powercell lay beneath its glass shield. Except now, it had multiple cracks on the glass.

"It's cracked," said Donnie. "Oh, this is bad. The Kraang can detect that energy signature. We gotta get back underground before they come looking for the power cell!"

"To your stations, ninjas!" Leo ordered. "We're movin' out!"

At once we all ran to our designated stations. I took my seat and gripped the edges tightly as the car started up. We swerved tightly before speeding out of the hole in the wall and out onto the road.

"How far away are we from the entrance?" Leo asked.

"20 minutes," said Donnie. "15 if you go fast enough."

At once Leo pressed harder on the gas and the car sped up. Then, from outside, I thought I heard the sound of a helicopter flying above us. Cautiously, I stood up and looked around, and on one of the screens showed several white vans driving behind us.

"Leo," I said warningly.

"Hang on," he said.

He pressed on the gas and we started going even faster. I watched the screen as a Kraang-droid leaned out of one of the vans, holding a laser gun, and started firing at us.

"Hold her steady, Leo," said Raph. "I'll take care of these jokers!"

He buckled up in his seat before his station turned, and a door in the back of the car opened. Raph's seat slid out, along with the manhole cover launcher attached to it, and started firing covers at the vans.

"I gotta try that sometime," I said to myself.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the roof above us. I looked over at one of the screens, and it showed two Kraang-droids standing on top of the car.

"Guys, that Kraang are on the roof!" Leo yelled.

Both Mikey and Donnie leapt up from their stations and opened the hatch on the roof. They both leapt out, withdrawing their weapons. A second later I heard Mikey yell.

"Leo, Kraang can fly! Kraang can _fly_!"

I heard a loud smack, and gasped. Without hesitation I jumped up and pulled myself out of the hatch into the open. I looked around to see Donnie fighting off all three droids, knocking them off the van. I turned my head around and saw Mikey crawling back up onto the roof of the car.

"Mikey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm cool!"

"Wow!" I heard Pulverizer exclaim from inside. "No one told me they were _robot_ aliens!"

"Why _would_ we tell you?" Leo snapped.

I held on tightly as we ran over a large group of Kraang-droids. I let go of the edge and dropped back down into the car. Suddenly, the vehicle swerved and seemed to spin off in another direction. There was a loud crash as we slammed into what was probably a wall. The force knocked me off my feet and I fell hard on my back. I groaned in pain and annoyance as I pushed myself up. I looked up to see Leo reaching up to open the hatch on the roof, and Raph ran past me.

"C'mon, Nia!" he said.

I nodded as I sprang to my feet, following both of them out onto the roof. As soon as I was out I yanked out my kamas and leapt off the car, heading straight for a pair of Kraang droids. I dodged their lasers and slash both of their heads as I ran between them. I ran up to another one and crouched down as I spun and slashed at its legs. I raised one kama and slammed it down, the blade slicing through the head. The alien popped out and squealed before running off. I turned my head, and across the street I saw a single droid running straight for a nearby helicopter, and in his hands was none other than the powercell.

"He's got the cell!" Leo shouted.

"I'll stop him!" the Pulverizer said as he ran after the droid.

"Pulverizer, no!" Donnie yelled.

"I can do this!"

Donnie protested. "You really can't!"

I felt something grab my arm, and I spun my left kama before swinging it over and slicing off the arm of the droid that had grabbed me. I looked up and found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. As it started to power up I kicked it up and sliced through the droids legs. It fell down on its hands and I kicked it in its head, causing said head to spin around.

I sprang to my feet and turned. The second I heard the sound of a flying helicopter, I knew what had happened. I looked up to see the chopper already high in the sky, no doubt with the powercell inside. I glance down ahead of me, and saw Donnie helping Pulverizer to his feet. Pulverizer walked forward, staring up at the slowly disappearing helicopter.

"Oh man, looks like I mucked everything up, didn't I?" he said miserably, turning to face us.

"Hey bro, it's not your fault," Mikey said sympathetically.

"Um, actually, Mikey, it is," Leo said bluntly.

"Oh yeah…"

"Not completely," Donnie piped up. "I'm the one who sent the Shellraiser through the wall, and that's what cracked the powercell…"

I looked sadly at my brother, who was hanging his head slightly. I took a step towards him and put a hand on his shell, rubbing it gently. Donnie turned to look at me, grinning slightly.

"Ah, so…" we all turned to look at Pulverizer. "Think we could pick up our training again sometime?"

Donnie walked forward, putting a hand on Pulverizer's shoulder, an unreadable expression on his face.

"No," he said firmly.

"Fine," Pulverizer grinned. "But I'll be practicing, and I'll be back. And wherever crime may roam, wherever help is-"

"Bye!" we all said in unison.

Pulverizer slumped slightly as he turned and started to walk away. Then he stopped, turned, and looked directly at me. He smiled as he held his hand up to his ear, his pinky and thumb sticking out, and mouthed the words 'call me.' I folded my arms as I shook my head.

"Uh-uh, not gonna happen, dude."

Pulverizer shrugged. "Eh, worth a shot."

And with that, he turned and finally started to leave.

"Weirdo," Raph said to me.

"Tell me about it," I said. "Thank God I've got standards."

"I've gotta figure out how we're getting that powercell back!" Donnie said determinedly, punching a fist into his palm.

"Which raised the question," said Leo. "How're we gonna get the Shellraiser home?"

* * *

You know why I don't get? Why Donnie didn't have a backup plan in case we lose the powercell. That way we would have another way home other than having to push it back.

"Are you sure the parking break isn't on?" Raph asked angrily.

"For the hundredth time, YES!" Donnie shouted.

"Did you check and make sure?" I asked.

There was a few seconds silence.

"Donnie, I swear to God!" Raph yelled.

Still silence. Then the doors of the car opened and Donnie poked his head out.

"Sorry, guys," he said sheepishly. "Uh, try it now."

"Jesus Christ, Donnie!" I yelled as the others groaned and yelled his name.

_Well, nothing left to do but push…_


	23. TCRI

Ch. 18  
TCRI

I can honestly say that I love the Patrol Buggy. It's convenient, it's awesome to ride, and the fact that I get my own personal seat is an added bonus. And the whole thing could really be put to good use sometimes. Like, chasing the Kraang, for example. But, that still tends to be a bit of a challenge when the said Kraang are in a helicopter.

"Stay on 'em, Leo! My Kraang app's trippin' out!" Donnie shouted. "It's picking up a signal from the powercell!"

"Again?" Leo said skeptically. "Last time that thing lead us to a burrito in a microwave."

"Left!"

Leo took a sharp turn that made us swerve and drove into an alley.

"Left again!" Donnie shouted.

Leo turned left out of the alley and back onto the road.

"They're getting away! Right!"

Leo made another sharp turn, making Donnie yelp as he slid in his seat.

"Look out!" Raph shouted.

I looked up to see the headlights of a large car heading straight for us.

"Left, right! Left, right!" Donnie screamed in fear as we grew closer towards the truck.

"Split up!" I yelled.

The second I spoke, both Leo and Raph pulled the levers and we instantly separated. I grabbed the handles of my bike and twisted the throttle as I was left to solo drive, and I swerved to the right to avoid hitting the car. Once I had passed it I drove in the middle of the road and slowed down slightly. The boys, who had all avoided the car with ease, dove over to me, and we hooked back up. From behind me I heard Mikey let out a happy 'whoo-hoo' while laughing with glee.

"Haha, yeah! This is more fun than a shirders parade!" he shouted.

Raph frowned. "What're you _saying_?"

"Right!" Donnie snapped.

Leo immediately turned right into an alley, only to be met with a brick wall. He gasped and made a sharp turn. The cart swerved and spun out of control. There was a small flash as I thought I saw Donnie's T-Phone fly out of his hand. The cart continued to spin for a few seconds before coming to a jerky halt. I closed my eyes for a minute, trying to adjust to the dizziness that had gone to my head.

"We lost 'em," I heard Donnie groan.

I opened my eyes and turned around in time to see the helicopter fly over the building and out of sight. I sighed as I took off my bike helmet and set it on one of the bikes handles.

"Well, that was a bust," I said irritably.

The boys removed their helmets and stepped out of the cart. Donnie ran over to the end of the alley and knelt down to the ground where his phone lay, the screen black and cracked. The phone probably wasn't broken, but the tracker sure was.

"No way of tracking them now," he said miserably.

"What do we do now then?" I asked.

"That's it," Leo said firmly, walking back to the cart. "We're going to see Leatherhead."

Donnie's head snapped up as he whipped around to stare at Leo. Had a mixed look of terror and shock on his face.

"Uhh, Leatherhead…?"

Leo nodded. "He's the one who took the powercell from the Kraang, he's the one who might know where to find it."

"He's also the one who likes to grab my face and shake me like a _rag doll_!" Donnie whined angrily.

Mikey chuckled. "Heheh, good times!"

"Zip it!" Donnie snapped.

"C'mon, Donnie," I said, folding my arms. "He's not so bad once you get to know him."

Donnie shook his head. "Nia, like it or not, that guy is crazy!"

"Oh, he's nothing but a big sweetheart!" I retorted.

"Nia's right, dude," Mikey hopped off the dumpster he was sitting on. "Leatherhead's a pussycat… Who likes to grab your face and shake you like a rag doll! Haha!"

A dark cloud seemed to descend over Donnie's head as he turned and snarled at his brother, eyes white. I took a step back, feeling the tension building. Mikey leaned back slightly as his older brother leaned over him, still glaring.

"Right… Let's move!" Mikey said as he marched away, clearing wanting to get away from the fuming Donatello.

* * *

I can honestly say that I love swimming. I mean, I live with turtles, it's hard not to like swimming. And, the face that I have ninja training added to my swimming means that I can hold my breath for a wicked long time. 10 full minutes to be exact. Of course, the boys are turtles so they can hold theirs for 15, so, yeah. But, sometimes I would prefer not to swim during missions and stuff. Sometimes I would take another path while the boys would swim to our destination. But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

See, a while back Donnie made me a wetsuit (yah know, the things that divers wear) just in case I needed to swim instead of walk. Like now. I had my wetsuit attached to my bike in the Patrol Buggy- which I've done since Donnie invented the cart- just in case. It wasn't a bad suit either. It was solid black with bright blue sleeves, which ended at my elbows, and the legs ended above my knees. Needless to say, I looked pretty cute in it. And it's a good thing I still had it, because Leo told me that I would have to use it this time. I had asked if I could just walk there, but Leo said that I had to swim to get there. So, I changed into it as soon as I could and we headed to our destination.

My head finally broke the surface and I gasped slightly, having held my breath longer than I thought. It wasn't over 10 minutes, but still. I swam over to the ledge along with my bros and pushed myself out of the water. I stepped up to my feet, shaking my arms and legs of the dripping water.

"Who can hold their breath? _We _can!" Mikey declared proudly.

"We wouldn't have had to if yah hadn't kept swimming off to pick up trash," said Raph.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure," Mikey said, rubbing what appeared to be a hunk of trash against his face while petting it.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's every man's trash," Raph said bluntly.

"What you call trash, Mikey calls treasure," I said as I rung my ponytails, squeezing the excess liquid out. "Same as always, Raph."

Before we could say anything else there was a loud snarl from the other side of the room. I turned my head and saw a large mass curled up in the shadowed corner.

"There he is," Leo whispered. "We don't wanna alarm him, so no one make any sudden moves."

"Aww!" Mikey cooed. "Look how cute!"

Suddenly, Leatherhead opened his jaws and let out a lout yawn that sounded more like a roar. Mikey yelped and leaped back.

"W-who's gonna wake him up?" Donnie asked.

He, Raph and Leo all said "Not it!" before running off and hiding in the corners.

"Yes, we win!" Mikey said happily.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, no kidding. Alright, c'mon."

Both Mikey and I slowly walked over to the giant sleeping alligator. We stood there for a few seconds, staring at the gator and then at each other.

"You go first," he said.

I nodded. I slowly took a few steps forward and kneelt down beside the sleeping mutant. I gulped as I reached my hand forward and touched his arm.

"Um, Leatherhead? C'mon, buddy, wake up."

Leatherhead groaned loudly before shifting around, causing his huge arm to knock into me. I yelped as I tripped and fell back into the pool that we had entered in. I pushed myself back to the surface, spitting water out of my mouth. I rolled my eyes as I looked up at Mikey.

"Your turn," I told him.

Mikey nodded. He looked down at the gator before taking a step forward, lifting his let up, and poking the mutant's side with it.

"Leatherhead… Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey…"

Leatherhead's eyes opened, and they were thin slits. He sprang up to his feet, opened his jaws and roared in Mikey's face.

"Can we make sudden moves now?" I heard Donnie cry.

Leatherhead roared again before running off in direction of the other three. He suddenly grabbed Donnie by his head, lifted him into the air and started shaking him around. Donnie let out a muffled yell.

"He's grabbing me by the face again!"

Leatherhead slammed his hand on the ground, knocking Raph and Leo aside. He then swung his tail back and knocked Mikey back so that he slammed against the wall.

"Leatherhead, don't!" he yelled. "He must be having a nightmare!"

"That makes two of us!" Donnie screamed.

Leatherhead roared furiously, thrashing around. His tail started coming at me and I instantly dove down underwater, just barely missing contact. I looked up at the swirling surface of the water and saw the dark shapes of everyone along with muffled shouting. I pushed myself up and took a deep breath before looking around.

"Leatherhead!" Mikey cried, and then he started to speak softly. "C'mon, dude. It's Michelangelo. Turn off the crazy eyes, buddy."

Leatherhead leapt from the opposite corner and crawled over to Mikey. He snatched in up in his grip and roared in his face. Leatherhead raised his other hand up, claws out, and Mikey whimpered.

"Leatherhead, stop!" I shouted.

The gator turned his slits towards me. He glared at me for a few seconds, then his eyes closed, and when they opened they were back to normal.

"Michelangelo?" he breathed. "Lavinia?"

I smiled before swimming back to the edge and pushing myself out. Leatherhead gently set Mikey down on the ground as the others cautiously walked back towards him.

"My friends… Oh no," Leatherhead hung his head in shame. "I got angry again, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did it again!" Donnie snapped. "Why do you keep grabbing my face? What is _wrong_ with my _face_?!"

"Would you like the list alphabetically or in descending order of grossness?" Raph asked, ringing the tails of his mask out.

I glared at him before elbowing his arm. "Zip it."

"I am sorry," Leatherhead growled sadly. "You are my friends, the only ones I can truly trust. That's why I gave _you_ the powercell for safe keeping."

From beside me I heard Raph clear his throat, and I bit my lip nervously as I looked around at the others.

"Uh, about that…" Leo started.

"Funny story," said Mikey. "True story."

"But," Donnie piped up. "Before we tell it, why don't you sit down, and I and my face will take one _big_ step backwards!"

And with that, Donnie took several steps backwards until he was at the opposite corner of the room.

"Okay, go ahead!"

Leo cleared his throat. "Well, about the powercell, we sorta lost it…"

I bit down harder on my lip as me and the other two took a few steps back.

"To the Kraang," Leo finished quickly before he leapt into the pool.

Leatherhead roared with anger, eyes slits again, and suddenly ran across the room at Donnie, who screamed as he was grabbed by the face again. Leatherhead had already pinned him to the ground before he had calmed down again.

"No, Leatherhead," he told himself. "These are your friends."

Donnie muffled whimper came out as, "Mhm!"

Leatherhead sighed as he put Donnie up on his feet again. "Obviously, you did everything to protect it."

"Well, um, to be honest, I was-"

But Raph suddenly leapt forward and slapped a hand over Mikey's mouth.

"Yes! That's exactly what happened!" he said quickly.

"Leatherhead, we need to get it back," Leo said firmly.

Leatherhead sat down on the floor. "With the powercell, the Kraang can open the portal to Dimension X! And when it opens…"

"They can use it to bring anything from their home here!" Donnie finished.

Leatherhead nodded. "Things so horrible, they terrify even me."

"We need to keep that portal from opening," said Leo. "Can you tell us where it is?"

Leatherhead paused. "All I remember is this…"

He took one of his claws and started to draw a symbol on the gray, tiled floor; it was an image of six hexagons surrounding a seventh that sat in the middle, all of which were connected like a puzzle. Donnie pulled his phone out and took a picture of the symbol.

"Well," I said. "We've got one clue. Now what?"

* * *

"I know I've seen this symbol," Donnie muttered. "It's so familiar.

He and the rest of us all looked down at the image of the hexagons on his phone, along with a few other items on his table that also had the same symbol on them, such as Metalhead's head and the mutagen canister that transformed them all 15 years ago.

"The Olympics!" Mikey piped up.

Donnie shook his head. "No."

"I got it! The Olympics!"

"Stop guessing," Donnie frowned at the image on his phone. "Obviously it's a Kraang symbol."

"But from where?" Leo asked.

"THE OLYMPICS!" Mikey yelled.

"QUIT IT!" Donnie shouted angrily, making us all jump. "There's something here and I can figure it out, if you'll all just go away and let me THINK!"

Not wasting any time, me and the other three slowly backed out of Donnie's lab. I glanced over at the others and was surprised to see Mikey clinging to Raph like a scared cat, and Raph holding him up.

"Yikes," I said lowly.

Raph and Mikey nodded. Raph blinked when he realized he was holding Mike and instantly dropped him. Mikey grunted, glaring up at his brother as he rubbed the lower part of his shell that had hit the floor. Suddenly the lab doors burs open and Donnie can running out.

"Guys! I've got it!" he yelled. "I know where I've seen that symbol!"

* * *

"Donnie, hold on!"

"Just hurry up!"

"Could you at least slow down?" I yelled up at him.

Of course, Donnie ignored me and continued to sprint across the buildings, leaping from roof to roof, me and the others just barely keeping up.

"I hate when he's like this!" Raph snapped.

None of us tried to stop Donnie, but instead continued to follow him in his pursuit. We continued running across building tops for about 10 more minutes before Donnie reached the roof of one building, and finally stopped running.

"Ugh, finally," I groaned as we all reached the top as well.

"I've figured out where else I've seen this," Donnie said as he pulled out his phone, which had the symbol on the screen.

"Where?" Leo asked.

Donnie lowered the phone, and my gaze met the large building that was several blocks away. It had the same symbol on the top of the building, and it had for large letters above it.

"TCRI?" Raph said, folding his arms. "They're behind the Kraang plot?"

"The invasion?"

"The Olympics?"

Raph reached up and slapped the back of Mikey's head, hard. Mikey rubbed the back of his head as he looked up at his brother.

"What was that?"

"A new Olympic event."

Mikey lowered his hand and frowned at his brother, eyebrow raised.

"They've been in plain sight the whole time," said Donnie, appearing not to have heard what just when on with his two brothers. "We just never realized it!"

"I think it's pretty obvious what we have to do," Leo stuck his thumbs into his belt. "We're going in and taking down that portal."

* * *

I'm glad that April was able to get some blueprints for the TCRI building. Forming a plan was a lot easier afterward. While Donnie was busy watching over his homemade bomb that he had created, Mikey peeking at it over his shoulder, me and the others and Sensei surrounded the table, looking down at the blueprints April brought. I, who was sitting on the edge of the table, was leaning back a bit to see the image properly.

"I managed to download the blueprints to TCRI," April said, and she pointed to a spot on the map. "Now, the bottom two thirds are just a normal office building, and from what I can tell normal humans work there."

"Imagine if they knew who they were working for," said Leo, and he adopted a Kraang-like voice and said, "The ones who are working for this place must punch the card that is known as the time card in the clock that is known as the clock of time."

There was silence as we all stared at Leo.

"Dude…" I said, shaking my head.

Leo laughed sheepishly. "Hehe… Sorry, where were we?"

"Hm. What about the upper floors?" Splinter asked.

"Well, that's the thing," April pointed to the top half of the building print. "The top third is completely blank."

"Huh… Any guesses as to why that is?" I asked no one in particular.

"Whatever they build there, they didn't want anyone to know about it," said Leo.

"Which means, that is exactly where you have to go," said Sensei.

"Boom!"

I whipped around and saw Raph standing over Mikey and Donnie, who were crouched away slightly, obviously having just been scared. As Raph started laughing the other two straightened up, glaring at him.

"Watch it, fool!" Mikey snapped.

I rolled my eyes as I turned back to the blueprints. "So, what's the plan, Leo?"

"First, we gotta figure out how to get past security in the lobby."

April put her chin in her palm. "Tricky… It's not like we can pack you in a box and send it special delivery."

I glanced over at Leo, and saw that he had a grin on his face as he rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Hm…"

"Oh Lord," I sighed. "Here we go…"

* * *

Turns out packing us into a large box and sending us special delivery was easier than we originally thought. Of course, being stuffed in there with Leatherhead didn't exactly help.

"Almost there, guys," Leo breathed in a voice that was barely a whisper.

From outside the box I heard April call out, "Special delivery," right before I heard her whisper, "Good luck, guys!" There was a soft thud that made us shift before we came to a stop, and I heard the loud 'ding' as the elevator door closed.

"Now what?" I whispered.

"Shh..."

Leo held his hand up, telling us to be quiet and wait. We waited for what felt like 10 seconds before the elevator doors opened again. I knew it must've been the Kraang. But as soon as the doors opened Leatherhead burst through the box, roaring as he charged at the surrounding Kraang.

"Guys! Up here!"

I looked up to see Raph open the small door on the elevator roof, gesturing for us to follow. We all obliged, climbing on the remains of the large box and crawling up through the little door.

"I kinda feel bad leaving Leatherhead down there," Mikey said sadly as we all got onto the top.

At this me, Leo and Raph all glanced at each other, giving identical looks.

"I think he'll be fine," Leo said surely.

"So, how far to the top?" Raph asked.

At this we all looked up, and saw what looked like miles and miles of metal and wires that lead into darkness.

"Yikes…" Raph muttered.

"No kidding," I said. "Well, c'mon boys. Let's get this over with."

I leapt up to the metal wires and started climbing, the boys soon following my lead. For a while we carefully climbed up the metal walls, none of us speaking. Then, from next to me, I heard Mikey start humming.

"Are you… humming the Olympics theme?" Donnie asked.

"It seemed appropriate."

I rolled my eyes. "Good to know we can always count on you to lift our spirits, Mike."

"Pipe down, you two," Raph hissed from above us.

I looked up and watched as he stepped up to the next set of elevator doors. He managed to pry the doors open and looked inside. A second later he yelled, let go of the doors and turned away from them.

"Ahh! I gotta wash my eyes!"

Suddenly there came a loud, echoing sound that could only be an alarm.

"That's bad," said Raph.

"Alright!" Mikey cheered.

"What?" Leo snapped.

"Finally, someone set off an alarm and it wasn't me."

The doors above us opened, and a Kraang-droid appeared and started firing his laser gun at us. Me and the others leapt from wire to wire, avoiding the blasts. Finally, Mikey leapt into the air, whipped out his chain, and wrapped it around the droid, dragging him off the floor. Mikey gripped the wires tightly as the droid fell down and smashed on the top of the elevator below.

"Aw, darn it!" Mikey groaned. "Forgot to say 'see yah next fall.' Eh, next elevator shaft fight."

But as he spoke there was the sound of something powering up, and I looked down to see the elevator coming up right at us, and on top of it were 5 Kraang-droids. At the same time me and the guys leapt off the walls and withdrew our weapons as we fell towards the elevator.

The second I landed on the surface I ran at the droid closest to me. I snapped my foot up and kicked the gun out of the way before rearing my hand up and stabbing through the top of its head. I used the other kama to slice the robot's head off. I flung the severed head off before turning to see that the guys' had taken care of the others.

"Okay," Leo said breathlessly. "Let's get inside where it's safe."

"Yes, please," I sighed.

Leo reached forward and opened the little door. When we looked down inside however, we saw that the elevator was filled with droids. We all gasped before Donnie had the sense to close the door just as the Kraang began to fire at us.

"I gotta stop saying things like that," Leo said irritably.

"Yah know," I said. "It'd be really nice to go through one mission without getting jinxed."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a large smoke bomb. I quickly opened the door and dropped the bomb inside. The elevator was soon filled with purple smoke and the light shut off. We all jumped down and landed inside the vacancy, weapons still out. As the emergency lights flashed I quickly went to a droid and sliced through them, each one falling to the ground in a heap.

It was all over within a few seconds. The lights slowly came back on, and I was met with a huge pile of sliced up droids all over the floor.

"Can we _please_ just ride this thing to the top now?" Raph asked exasperatingly.

Donnie stepped over the pile of Kraang and over to where the buttons were. He pressed the top floor number, but nothing happened.

"We can't, there's a rectal scanner."

"I'm on it."

Raph took the severed Kraang head Mikey had been examining and pressed it to the dark screen above the buttons. The screen lit up, and a female voice said, "That which is known as access is granted to Kraang." And finally, the elevator started moving up.

"Hey, this is so much easier," Mikey said, grinning.

"Yeah," said Raph. "Finally a chance to catch our breath."

"Remind me again why we didn't do this again?" I said. "Leo?"

Leo cleared his throat, determinedly not looking at me. A second later the elevator made a loud 'ding', and we all took a stance with our weapons. I gripped the handles of my kamas tightly, ready for a fight. Then, as the door opened what appeared to be green smoke filled the area. The second I breathed it in I felt my throat contract, and suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I dropped my kamas as I gripped my throat, gagging as I tried to breathe any way I could. Judging by the choking sounds coming from the others, it was happening to them, too.

"P-poisoned gas!" Leo choked.

Before I could do more than slump against the elevator wall I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

The first thing I felt was soreness in my throat. Next was dizziness in my head. Then I felt my stomach drop when I remembered what happened. I quickly sat up- big mistake as this caused a sudden pang of dizziness in my head again- and looked around. I appeared to be trapped in a giant, glass tube. How I got there, I didn't know. I heard a low groan and looked down. The guys were all laying around me, and all of them appeared to be waking up as well.

"Guys?" I said groggily. "You okay?"

Mikey held up his hand and gave me a feeble thumbs up as the others slowly and gingerly got up to their feet.

"Well, the good news is we're alive," said Donnie.

"What's the bad news?" Leo asked.

"That."

I looked outside the tube and gasped. The whole level was filled with the same green smoke from earlier, as well as many Kraang-droids and aliens who were floating around in little silver holders. There were very large screens that had even larger aliens on them, who were conversing with much smaller ones.

"We are _deep_ in Kraang country," Donnie said seriously.

"Gah!"

I whipped around and saw that Leo had been startled by a Kraang alien that had smacked against the glass of the tube and was now sliding down, a trail of slime trailing behind it.

"Okay, that's nasty," I said.

"We're not in Kansas anymore," Leo groaned.

"I thought we were in New York!" Mikey cried, then received a punch to the head, curtesy of Raph.

"The portal!"

I turned my head in the direction Leo was looking and saw a massive piece of machinery that sat in the middle of the room. Donnie gasped, his hands pressed against the glass.

"It's beautiful…"

I smirked. "Don't let April hear you say that."

Donnie cleared his throat. "I was speaking scientifically, Nia."

"Well, if yah love it so much why don't yah marry it?" Raph said gruffly.

Mikey beamed and said, cheerfully, "Do you, Donatello, take this portal to be your-"

"Knock it off, all of you!" Leo snapped. "We need to figure out how we're gonna destroy Donnie's bride over there."

"Yeah, not likely," said Raph. "We're stuck in here, our weapons are way over there in a room that's fill with- in case you forgot- poisoned gas."

"If it's poisoned, how can _they_ breathe that stuff?" Mikey asked.

"I think it's what the air is like in Dimension X," said Donnie.

"And, I repeat, that's nasty," I said simply.

Raph frowned. "Well, that's stupid. Why would you invade a place where you can't even breathe the air?"

"Yeah!" Mikey piped up. "What're they gonna do? Mutate the whole planet so they can live here and we can't?"

There was a few seconds silence, in which me and the other three all stared at Mikey, completely stunned.

"I don't know what's scarier," said Donnie. "What you just said or that you said it."

"Wait, wait… What'd I say?"

Donnie turned towards us. "Mikey's right! The Kraang are trying to transform the planet into something they can live on."

"And we can't…" Leo finished. "We have to stop them."

"How are we supposed get out of here with these guys watching our every move?" Raph asked, gesturing to the peeping aliens.

"We need a distraction."

Suddenly, there came a loud, rumbling sound from outside the tube, and the Kraang left us and went to the center of the room. The portal was starting up.

"Oh, boy…" I sighed.

"Like the portal?" Mikey asked.

"That might do it."

"Once that thing opens up, anything could come through there," said Donnie.

Leo reached up and pulled a small, hidden blade from the tap around his wrist. He quickly tossed it to Donnie, who caught it and then put a small incision in the glass.

"Hey, Mikey," said Leo. "You said you can hold your breath?"

"Like a turtle do!"

"Now's your chance."

At once, we all took a long, big breath in unison, and held it. Mikey leapt up into the air, spun around, and shot into his shell. I had to fight off my giggles (I always thought it was funny when they did that). Leo and Raph caught Mikey's shell, took a step back, and lunched forward. Mikey's shell hit the glass where the incision was, and it made a larger crack. They stepped back and lunched again, and the crack got bigger. They stepped back, took careful aim, and ran at the glass at top speed. Mikey's shell hit the glass, which busted, and he broke through.

At once me and the other three jumped out and landed on the floor below. At once we started heading for where our weapons were, but several Kraang aliens floating in their hover pods shot towards us and started shooting what looked like pink electricity. We all separated and dodged the blows. One pod shot straight towards me, but I ducked under it kicked my leg back, knocking the alien out of the pod. A second pod came at me, shooting electricity. I leapt over the alien and sprinted over to where our weapons sat in a pile. I reached down to grab my tessen and put it in its holster before picking up my kamas and stuffing them into my belt.

Raph picked up Donnie's staff and, seeing Donnie several feet away with a Kraang pod coming at him, threw it into the air towards him. Donnie turned around and reached up just in time to grab his staff. Then, wielding it like hitter's baseball bat, swung it out and hit the alien pod. Said pod shot out across the room and smashed through a window. Suddenly, the poisonous green air began emptying out of the room and out into the outdoors. When the room was finally clear, we all finally gasped for air.

"We're good!" Leo panted. "Let's go!"

"The portal!" Donnie shouted. "We're too late!"

"Something's coming through!"

I had just enough time to look up and see a large, glowing sphere in the center of the portal before there was a flash, and it disappeared. In its place was what looked like a giant pile of black rock. Then the top of the rock moved up to reveal what looked like a face that glowed red like fire. Suddenly, it stood up, and I saw that it wasn't a pile of rock at all. It was some kind of living being that was made entirely of rock.

"Welcome to Earth, giant rock man," Mikey said lowly.

The rock giant roared loudly before stomping over to us, and lifting its foot when it reached us.

"Scatter!" Leo shouted.

We had just enough time to jump out of the way before the giant stomped its foot down, directly were we all were two seconds ago.

"Wow, an entity made of living rock!" I heard Donnie say excitedly. "I wish I could study him!"

"Study him _after_ we smash him into a billion pieces!" said Leo.

I got up to my feet and looked around in time to see Leo swing his sword against the giant's foot, and the blade snapped in two.

"Or not!"

Leo jumped out of the way as the giant swung down at him. I looked around at Mikey and Raph.

"C'mon!"

At once we all ran forward towards the giant. He looked down at us before opening his mouth, and what looked like pure lava spewed out. Mikey and I went left to avoid it, while Raph went right and ran up the wall.

"Watch out for the lava barf!" he shouted.

Raph leapt towards the giant, who punched him into the air and then caught him in his large hand. Raph glared at the thing and started kicking its face. When nothing happened except the giant continued to stare at him, Raph's face fell.

"Aw, shoot!"

The giant growled and then threw Raph so that he slammed into the portal and fell to the ground. Donnie, Mikey and I all looked round at the giant. Before my hand could even reach my kamas I was knocked off my feet and into the air. I fell onto the floor and slid over to where the other three lay in a pile beside the portal. I looked up as the monster stomped towards us, looking as though he'd like nothing better than to squish us. But even as it got closer, Leo suddenly ran in front of us, reached behind him, and pulled out three smoke bombs that he threw into the air and at the giant's face. They exploded, and the giant roared with pain and anger before running after Leo, who led the giant away from us.

"C'mon, guys," Raph said as he stood up. "This way, quick!"

We all sprang to our feet and followed Raph, all the while I watched Leo as he dodged every swing the giant threw at him. Suddenly, the monster reared his arm back and aimed a punch at him. There was a loud _crash_, and as the dust cleared I saw a large hole in the wall, and Leo landed in front of it, having dodged the punch. He folded his arms as he glared at the giant, who glared back menacingly.

"BOOYAKASHA…!"

The giant had enough time to turn his head before me and bros shot forward and kicked him straight in his chest. As we landed on the floor the giant fell on his back, making the floor quack. A few seconds later it slowly stood up and got to his feet.

"Do we have anything that can hurt this thing?" Raph asked irritably.

"What about the explosives?" I asked.

Donnie's eyes widened. "Yeah… Yeah, the explosives might do it, but then we wouldn't be able to take down the portal."

"Unless…" said Leo. "We do both at the same time. Hand 'em over!"

Donnie took the bag of explosives off and handed them to Leo. The giant marched over to us, towering over us all. Mikey reached into his belt and threw a smoke bomb on the ground. We disappeared as soon as the smoke erupted, and by the time it disappeared we had moved. The giant turned his head, looking for us. While he was distracted, Leo leapt off the upper level and landed on the giant's shoulders. He managed to wrap the bag around the giant's neck before leaping off and landed beside us.

"Awesome, Leo!" said Mikey.

The giant turned to look at us, and I gasped slightly. Mikey cleared his throat.

"So, how do we get him into the portal?"

"Uh… I kinda hadn't thought that far ahead," Leo admitted.

I stared at him. "You're joking, right?"

Before he could answer there was a loud ding, and the elevator doors opened. A few mutilated Kraang-droids where shoved out, and an alien from one of them popped out and scurried away. Then, to my surprise, Leatherhead emerged from the elevator shaft.

"Leatherhead!" Mikey said happily.

Leatherhead roared loudly, getting the attention of the giant. Leatherhead threw a severed torso of a Kraang-droid at the giant before leaping at him and knocking him to the ground. He grabbed the giant by the legs and started throwing him against the floor and the walls.

"Leatherhead, get him by the portal!" Donnie shouted.

Leatherhead roared before swinging the giant around and throwing him out. The giant landed in the center of the portal, and Donnie quickly lifted his phone and pressed the button. The bombs suddenly exploded into a mass of fire and black smoke, and the giant now lay in massive pieces.

"We did it!"

"Yeah!"

"All right!"

"Way to go, guys!"

"High-three!"

The smoke finally cleared, and I gasped. The portal was still completely intact.

"What the-?" Leo gasped.

Donnie stared. "It's still standing?"

"High-three canceled…" Mikey said miserably.

"What're we supposed to do now?" Donnie asked.

"I can punch it a few times, but I don't think that's gonna do it," said Raph.

"I could probably throw in a few kicks," I said as we hung our heads.

"Uh, guys…"

Mikey pointed out towards the portal and we looked around. I gasped. The giant was coming back together before our very eyes.

"Well, this day can't get any worse," Raph said angrily. But even as he spoke the portal started to light up and made loud noises as it started to power up and the glowing sphere reappeared. "And it just did…"

"Something else might come through!" Donnie said hysterically. "What do we do now?"

There came a loud roar, and suddenly Leatherhead came running out and leapt at the giant. He brought the monster to the ground and started clawing at his stone face.

"Leatherhead, something else is coming through!" Mikey warned.

"Not if I can help it!"

I stared at him. Leatherhead picked up the rock giant and threw it over his shoulder.

"Farewell, my friends," he growled sadly.

"Leatherhead, no!"

Mikey ran forward, but I grabbed his arm and held him back. As much as I wanted to run up and help Leatherhead too, I knew that there would be no point. Leatherhead disappeared into the portal before the sphere flashed brightly, and vanished. The force of the portal threw us all back, knocking us off our feet. I groaned as I lifted my head and saw that the portal was now off, and Leatherhead was gone.

"Leatherhead," Mikey whimpered. "I can't believe he's gone…"

I looked at him sadly as I gently put my hand on his shell.

"We've gotta get outta here!" said Leo.

"We can't just leave!" Donnie snapped. "With that portal operational, the Kraang are more dangerous than ever! We have to destroy it!"

Suddenly the elevator opened again, and a dozen or so Kraang-droids filed out and instantly started firing at us.

"Ah, maybe later!" said Leo.

We all jumped up and leapt out of the way of the lasers and up to the window that had broken earlier. Leo stood infront of it and held up a grappling hook.

"We'll be back…"

He fired it, and I saw the hook attach to the roof of a building opposite us. The boys grabbed onto the rope, and one at a time started going down the line. Donnie was the last to go, and as he did I reached up for the rope. But just as I did I felt something grab me from behind and pull me back. I yelled as I was pulled back and forced onto my back. I looked up to see the face of a Kraang-droid before I growled and punched it, knocking it out of the way. I sprang to my feet and whipped around to see all of the Kraang-droids standing in front of me.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I shouted as I pulled out my kamas.

In the distance I heard one of the boys yell my name, and it sounded like Raph. At once I started slicing through the Kraang-droids, knocking most out of the way and others onto the ground. One aimed a gun at me, but I kicked it out of its grasp and sliced its hands off. I then grabbed it and pulled it forward and used it as a shield as another droid started firing at me. After a few shots I shoved the droid into the other, and they both fell of the ledge. Turned my head to see a droid running at me, and I did a spinning back-kick, knocking him off the ledge, too.

Suddenly, something grabbed my ankle and pulled, and I yelped as I nearly fell of the edge. My hands gripped the edge to keep me up, one of my kamas laying on the surface and the other having fallen out of my grasp. I looked down in time to see a small flash before it disappeared into the darkness. I grunted as I tried to pull myself up, and a Kraang-droid stepped up. He looked down at me for a moment before raising his foot and stomping on my right hand. I swore loudly as my hand was shoved off, now feeling very sore. The droid raised his other foot, and stomped down hard on my other hand. I swore again as pain seared through my hand. It felt as though every bone in my hand was about to break, but I held on as best I could. The droid pressed down harder, and I thought I almost heard something crack.

Then, from somewhere behind me I heard a loud shriek and the droid looked up before it was suddenly snatched up by something big. I put my other hand back up and pulled myself up so I was leaning over the edge. I looked up and saw that something big was attacking the droids, tarring them apart and knocking them over the edge. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn't even see what the thing was, and before I knew it all of the droids were down, and the thing had shot up into the air. Before I could do anything, what felt like claws grabbed my arms and pulled me up, and I screamed in shock. The thing started to fly off with me, and as I looked down I saw the boys on the roof of the building, yelling and waving at me. I yelled as I thrashed around, looking down at the earth below me.

"Who are you?" I shouted. "What're you doing?"

There came no answer, but the thing continued to fly over the buildings. After about five minutes the thing finally started to lower to the ground, coming closer to a dark alley. Finally, when we reached the alley, the creature let go of my arms and dropped me. I fell onto the ground and summersaulted into a kneeling position. Panting slightly, I looked up to see a creature covered in feathers heading straight for me. I crouched down and covered my head just as the thing swooped down over me, letting out a loud screech. Through the screech I heard what sounded like metal falling onto the ground. I heard the distant sound of wings flapping, and it was gone.

Slowly, I lifted my head up and opened my eyes. I saw both of my kamas laying on the ground in front of me. I stared at them, puzzled, then slowly reached out and grabbed them. Neither of them looked damaged, and I stuffed them back into my belt. As I moved something bright caught my eye and I turned. I blinked several times as I looked at what was unmistakably a large feather. It was pure white except for the tip, which was a deep purple. Hesitantly, I reached out and took it in my hand. Despite its size, it was surprisingly light. I took a finger and gently smoothed it over the feather and found that it was smoother than silk. _What the hell did this come from…?_

"Nia…"

I looked up at the sound of my name.

"Nia…"

There it was again. I recognized it as Leo's voice.

"Nia…"

"Nia, where are you…"

I gripped the feather in my tight grasped as I ran over to the fire escape and started climbing up. As I got to the roof I looked around, and I could hear their voices, louder this time.

"Nia!"

"Nia, c'mon, where are yah!"

"Guys!" I shouted. "Guys, I'm up here!"

I heard their voices as they scrambled around somewhere near. A second later I heard Raph from the other side of the building I was on.

"Nia! You up there?"

"Yeah!"

A few moments later Raph popped up on the other side of the roof, then Mikey, then Donnie, then Leo. At once they leapt over the ledge and ran over to me. Mikey reached me first and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back as the others came up.

"Nia, are you okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said as Mikey released me.

"Dude, what happened back there?" Raph said urgently

"I was gonna follow you guys, but I got snatched by the Kraang," I paused. "You guys saw what happened, right? You saw that thing?"

They all nodded.

"Did you see what it was?"

"It was too dark, we couldn't tell," said Donnie.

"Well, maybe this could help," I raised the large feather up for them to see. "It feel off the thing."

For a moment they all stared at the feather, eyes wide. Then Donnie reached over and took the feather from my hand.

"Any ideas, Don?" Leo asked.

Donnie's brows furrowed as he examined the thing, looking it up and down and touching along the feather as I had earlier.

"Hmm… I can't be one hundred percent certain without a sample test, but if I had to guess, I'd say this is a feather from an albino Tyto Alba."

"Say what?" Mikey said, puzzled.

"An albino Barn Owl," Donnie said irritably.

"Oh…"

I reached out for the feather, and Donnie handed it back.

"Are you sure this is an owl feather?" I asked. "It's pretty big…"

"It must be," said Donnie. "Though, even if it was, I can't imagine how it would be possible. Barn owls aren't native to cities, they're often found in… well, barns. The only place I can think that one might is the New York Bird Sanctuary, but that place isn't anywhere near Manhattan. Besides, that doesn't explain the size of the feather."

"You don't think that it could've been mutant, do you?" I asked. "Remember Pigeon Pete? He started out as a pigeon before the Kraang got him."

Donnie rubbed his chin. "That is possible…"

"Whatever it was," said Leo. "It still saved you."

I nodded as I looked down at the feather. "Yeah… it did…"

* * *

After the fiasco with the Kraang and the possible mutant that saved me, we finally headed home. I could tell that the others, like me, had many things running through our head. Once of which was the loss of Leatherhead. That, above all, stuck with me the whole way home.

"Oh, you're okay!" April shouted as we walked through the turnstiles, not even bothering to go over them.

I looked up in time to see April throw her arms around Donnie and hug him. Donnie, who still looked as sad as the rest of us, didn't do anything that suggested nervousness and hugged her back. None of the others said anything as they sat on the couch inside the pit. I slowly shuffled over to sit on the edge of the pit next to Raph, my legs over the edge and my feet on the couch, and I folded my arms over my knees.

"Welcome home, my children," Sensei said as he stood up. "Was your mission successful?"

"Afraid not, Sensei," Leo said sadly. "Leatherhead's… gone."

There was silence. The fact that it had been said made it even truer, and that was even more saddening. I lowered my head as I sniffed lowly. Raph, not looking at me, lifted his hand up and put it on top of mine, giving it a comforting squeeze. I looked over at him and saw him close his eyes and bow his head slightly. I gave him a sad smile as I squeezed his hand back.

"Yeah… but he saved us," Mikey said lowly. "And I found this!"

I looked up to see Mikey holding what looked like a small, silver box.

"Mikey, where did you get that?" I asked.

"TCRI."

"Oh, good," said Raph. "Now you're picking up alien trash."

I rolled my eyes as I pulled my hand back and put both of them into the pocket of my hoodie. I looked up to see Donnie walk over to Mikey, but he wasn't looking at his brother. His eyes were wide with what seemed to be revelation as he took the silver box from Mikey's grasp.

"Do you realize what this is?" Donnie breathed, sounding excited.

Mikey grinned. "Shiney!"

I giggled.

"It's a Kraang data storage device!" Donnie beamed. "If I can decode it, maybe it can help us find a way to stop 'em!"

And without another word, he turned on his heal and sprinted into his lab. We all stared at his as he shut the doors to his lab.

"There he goes again," I said as I stood up. "I'll be right back."

Raph nodded, and I turned and left for my room. I gently shut the door behind me and sighed. Today had been a very rough day. I looked down at my hands and saw that I was still holding the feather. I lifted it up to the light and examined it closely. Now that got a better look at it, it was actually kind of pretty. Beautiful even. I had never seen a feather like this before.

I slowly walked further into the room and stopped in front of the small mirror that hung on the wall. I looked at my reflection, then down at the feather, then back up again. I smiled. Then, I slowly lifted the end of the feather up and stuck it into my tight hair tie of my right low ponytail. I made sure that it wouldn't fall, and I lowered my hands. The feather hung from the tie, looking rather nice with my ponytail. I lifted my hand and stroked the feather. Whoever or whatever saved me, I owed them so much more than a thank you.

* * *

"This just doesn't make sense," said April. "If the Kraang were trying to terraform the earth, what do they need my dad for?"

"Well, he is a scientist," Leo said reasonably.

"Yeah, but… he's a phycologist; he studies rats running through mazes. No offense," she added to Sensei.

"I like a good maze," he said simply.

"Well, they still had a reason for kidnapping him," I said. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken him, right?"

"Still, my dad wouldn't know anything about what their trying to do."

"But, if they didn't need your dad, why were they after him in the first place?" asked Raph.

"I don't think they were."

We all turned around. Donnie had finally come out of his lab, and he had a very serious look on his face.

"You might wanna come see this," he said, and he walked back into his lab.

We all looked at each other for a moment before we all got up and walked into Donnie's lab. Donnie was sitting by his computer on his desk, and he gestured for us to come closer.

"Whatcha find, Donnie?" I asked as I sat on the desk next to his computer.

"Oh, a few things," he said lowly, and he started tapping away at the keyboard. "I used the Kraang processer inside Metalhead to access that storage device. A lot of the files are damaged, but I think I've found what they're after…"

Donnie lowered his finger and pressed the 'enter' button. The computer beeped, and several images popped up on the screen. I inhaled sharply. It was a bunch of pictures of April.

"They're after _me_?!" April gasped.


	24. Cockroach Terminator

**Hey guys! I know it's been a while since I've written anything up here, but, c'mon, I'm running out of things to say. I just wanna thank you for all your support and reviews. Especially one person...**

**Brittany, I don't know who you are, but just wanna say thank you. Your reviews have been honest, kind, and supportive. Every time I see a review from you I can't help but smile. I wish you at least had an account so that I could talk to you directly, but I guess this will just have to do for now. Consider this a big thank you from me to you. I hope to see more reviews from you soon.**

* * *

Ch. 19  
Cockroach Terminator

It was so nice to have Angus and Vanessa come over to the lair now. It was great that I didn't have to hide anything from them now, and it was awesome that they could hang out with me in my own home. The fact that they got along so well with the guys was even better.

"Are you sure you don't want your sheet music back?" I asked Angus, who was sitting next to me on the couch.

"Nah, keep it," he said. "I got that stuff memorized real good. Besides, I can just get another copy."

From next to us, Vanessa and Mikey, who were sitting on the floor, both started laughing. Apparently, Mikey had just told a joke, and Vanessa found it entertaining. That's something else that I noticed. Vanessa and Mikey seemed to have been getting along really well. Every time I saw them together they always seemed happy. Now, Mikey hadn't acted or said anything like he did the night he met her- the night he said that he thought she was cute- but he always seemed kind of cozy with her.

"Dude, your laugh's awesome!" said Mikey.

"No!" Vanessa shook her head, still laughing, and she covered her mouth. "No, I hate my laugh!"

"Why?"

"It sounds like a pig snorting."

"No, it's adorable!"

Vanessa giggled as she turned her head away, and I was surprised to see her blushing. Mikey, who was sitting cross-legged in front of her, smiled at her as he leaned over to look at her.

"Ugh, can they get any weirder?" Raph, who was sitting on the other side of me, reading one of his comics.

I shoved his arm slightly, but he just shrugged.

"What?"

"Be nice," I whispered. "Mikey's getting along with another human and he's happy, so just deal with it, please?"

"Well, can yah blame me? He's acting the same way Donnie does whenever April's around. Only difference is that Mikey seems to be getting somewhere."

I couldn't deny that. With the way Mikey always acted around her, it wouldn't surprise me if he had a crush on Vanessa. Thing is, she seemed to be acting the same way.

As Vanessa finally turned around to look at Mikey her phone started ringing. She picked it up off the floor and answered it.

"Hi, mom!" she said brightly. "Oh, I'm just… hanging out with Nia and Angus."

Another great thing: both Vanessa and Angus kept their promise to keep us a secret.

"Mhm… Yes, ma'am, I know… Mhm… Wait, wait, it came today? …Just now?" she suddenly gasped. "Oh my god, that's great! Yes, ma'am… Okay, I'll be there soon. Love you."

She hung up the phone, and squealed with delight.

"What is it?" I asked.

"My broken pieces finally came in!" she said happily. "I can finish my piece."

Mikey tilted his head, brows furrowed. "Huh?"

"Oh yeah… I never told you guys, did I?"

"Tell us what?" Raph asked.

"I make mosaics," Vanessa said proudly. "You know, pieces of art that are made of broken glass and cement?"

"Oh, yeah! I know what those are," I said, finally realizing. "I didn't know you did that."

"I've been doing it since I was 10 years old. See, I was washing dishes after dinner one night, and I accidently broke one of our plates. I felt bad, so I assembled the pieces into a pattern for my mom. She liked it so much that she went out and bought me a mosaic kit. I used it and I loved it, and I've been making pieces since."

I smiled. "That's cool. I'm guessing you're good?"

"Oh, she's awesome," said Angus. "Yah know, she sold one of her pieces to her neighbor's last week?"

"Really?" Raph asked.

"Yeah. My neighbor, Ms. Corse, she came over because she wanted to borrow some sugar, and she saw one of pieces that I had just finished. She loved it and asked if I could sell it to her."

"What did your mom say?" I asked.

"Oh, she told me that some more colored pieces came in," said Vanessa. "My grandparents own a restaurant over in Queens. As you can imagine, their constantly breaking cups and plates. Every time they get more broken pieces, they put them in a box and mail them over to me. It's a lot cheaper and easier for me than to just buy cups and plates just to smash them, but I still do sometimes."

"You smash cups and plates _on purpose_ and you use them to make art?" Mikey said, amazed. "Dude, that's _awesome_!"

Vanessa giggled as she stood up. "Well, I gots go. I got a piece at home that needs finishing. See yah!"

She waved at us, and we waved back as she got out of the pit and made for the turnstiles.

"Guys, lunch is ready!" Leo's voice called out from the kitchen.

"Speakin' of which," Angus stood up from his seat. "I gotta get home for lunch. My mama might need my help."

"Let me know how the baby's doing," I told him as he started to walk away.

He gave me the thumbs up as he turned and followed Vanessa through the turnstiles. Raph, still holding his comic, stood up from his seat.

"Well, I'm hungry."

"Same," I said. "C'mon, Mikey."

We all left the living room and started heading for the kitchen. As we passed Donnie's lab I leaned back and yelled.

"Hey, Donnie! Lunch is ready!"

"Just a minute!" he yelled back.

We all entered the kitchen, and I saw Leo standing by the stove over a steaming pot. I sniffed the air, and sighed. _Mmm, Ramen…_ We all took our seats at the table; me and Mikey sat next to each other on one side and Raph sat on the end, still looking at his comic. Leo came over and placed a bowl in front of Raph, who looked down from his comic and grinned as he picked up his chopsticks.

"Sweet, Ramen!"

Immediately he started devouring his noodles before looking back at his comic. Leo went back to the stove and started pouring more noodles into three other bowls, but leaving a fourth one empty.

"Where's Donnie?" he asked.

"Still in his lab," I said. "He'll be out in a minute."

"Let's go, Leo! I'm starving!" Mikey whined.

I rolled my eyes. Leo then came over with two bowls in his hands and gave them both to me and Mikey. I licked my lips as Mikey cheered.

"Yeah, boy! Ramen!"

I grinned down at my bowl as I picked up my chopsticks and started eating. For a moment there was nothing but the slurping of noodles. Then, as I continued to eat, I caught some movement out the corner of my eye. One noodle still hanging out of my mouth, I turned my head to look at the end of the table. There on the surface was a cockroach. Now, I never had a problem with bugs, but I didn't like having any at the table. But, what was different about this bug was that it appeared to be wearing some kind of equipment on its head. It crawled over closer to me and looked up at me. I stared back as I slowly sucked in the noodle that had been hanging out of my mouth.

"I question nothing anymore," I said simply as I pulled my bowl back out of the roach's reach.

The bug looked away from me as I crawled forward towards Leo. Leo noticed the bug and stared at it. The roach crawled over to Mikey, who had noodles spilling from his mouth as he stared at the thing. Then, the roach started heading straight for Raph. _Uh-oh… _I thought. _Raph hates roaches!_ The bug crawled up the bowl and onto the end of Raph's chopsticks just as Raph lifted them up to his mouth. He stopped when he saw the roach on his chopstick. For a moment, there was silence. Suddenly, Raph screamed bloody murder as he threw his chopsticks back and shoved the bowl off the table.

"ROACH! ROACH!"

We all stared at Raph, who stared down at the bug as he reached behind him, obviously reaching for his sai. A second later he pulled it out and yelling as he started stabbing at the roach, who just jumped back out of the way. I grabbed my bowl and picked it up as Raph started crawling over the table trying to stab the bug. He fell over the edge and got back up to his feet, running after the roach. Suddenly, the curtains to the kitchen opened, and Donnie came running, holding his laptop.

"Stop, stop! You'll smash him!" he yelled.

"That's the idea!" Raph snapped.

The roach ran away from Raph and instantly headed straight towards Donnie. Donnie placed the laptop on the table and quickly kneeled over so that the bug could crawl onto his hand. Raph came running at him, sai raised, but Donnie covered the roach and blocked Raph's path.

"You can't smash _this_ roach, okay?" he snapped.

Raph lowered his sai and Donnie peered inside his closed palms. He smiled as he opened them to reveal the roach, fully intact and squeaking loudly.

"He's special," Donnie said as he lifted the roach to his face, and the bug nuzzled against him. Donnie looked over at us, then lifted his hand so the roach was in full view. "_Really special_…"

Leo sighed. "Okay, I'm gonna regret his, but… _Why_ is he special, Donnie?"

Donnie smiled. "Because, I outfitted him with a remote-controlled camera helmet!"

"Well, that explains why _you're_ special," said Leo, smirking.

I rolled my eyes as I set my bowl down. "Why did you put that helmet on him, Donnie?"

"So we can send him into TCRI to spy on the Kraang!" Donnie said as he walked over to his laptop. "The camera allows us to see whatever the cockroach sees!"

We all walked over to stand behind Donnie as he pressed a button on the keyboard. At once, the video of Raph screaming in terror popped up, and I couldn't help but snort a little. Mikey, however, burst into laughter.

"That is _awesome_! Big, tough Raph is scared of cockroaches!"

"I am not!" Raph snapped.

"Oh, really? Let's go to the video!" Mikey said, as he pressed rewind, then play. "This is my favorite part right here!"

Raph screaming came up again, and Mikey paused it. He laughed at the sight of it.

"Donnie, can I get this on a T-shirt?"

"You wanna see _my _favorite part?" Raph growled.

He snatched his brother by his shoulders and turned him around. Donnie had just enough time to move his laptop out of the way before Raph threw Mikey over the table, and the younger turtle fell to the ground and slammed against the wall. Mikey groaned, his eyes spinning in his head.

"We're gonna spy on the Kraang, with a cockroach!" Donnie said proudly, raising the roach into the air.

I smiled. "It's amazing what you can come up with these days, Donnie."

* * *

"Come on, Roach Number 1, make papa proud…"

We were all now inside the Shellraiser, currently sitting near TCRI. We were all huddled around Donnie's seat, looking at the screen in front of him. By now, his spy-roach had already infiltrated the building using the little saw it had attached to him and was now scurrying around, being lead and moved by the remote control Donnie had in his hand.

The roach walked around a corner, and suddenly two Kraang-droids appeared, both of whom appeared to be standing in front of a large tanker of mutagen.

"_Kraang has been on the diet known as 'glutton free'. Kraang has already lost 13 Kraang units of weight."_

I snorted. "Sound like a bunch of girls."

Raph chuckled. Donnie moved the joystick of the controller and the roach moved away from the two droids. I watched as the little guy crawled up what appeared to be a support beam and then the image leveled out. The roached walked along the beam, and then two other droids appeared towards the bottom right corner of the screen.

"Wait, what're those guys talking about?" said Leo. "Can you get closer?"

Donnie turned the joystick a bit and the image of the robots got larger, and their voices got louder.

"_That which is known as the next phase of the Kraang invasion to the planet known as 'earth' will soon begin."_

"Next phase…?" Leo said. "That doesn't sound good."

I looked closely at the screen and saw the two droids standing in front of a large, holographic image that looked like the earth and all its different layers that lead to its core.

"_That which is the laser drill will drill a hole in the planet known as 'earth'. That is a hole that is thirty miles deep in the earth."_

Donnie quickly plugged his T-Phone into the computer and downloaded the picture of the laser drill.

"Whoa," Donnie said, surprised. "They're gonna bore a hole into earth?"

"I'm guessing that's bad," said Leo.

"Ah, unless you think the city needs a giant lava fountain," Donnie said timidly.

"Yep. That's bad."

"Goodbye harsh winters," Raph said gruffly.

I nodded. "Yeah, so much for building a snowman."

"Lave surfing _rules_!"

"It definitely doesn't, Mikey," Leo said firmly. "We have to stop this!"

"Shh-shh!" Donnie hissed.

"_To execute the plan, Kraang needs to be possessing that which is known as the 'diamond lens' to make work the drilling of the laser drill."_

"What does _that_ mean?" Raph asked.

"They need a diamond lens to make their laser drill work," Donnie informed him. "Now, shh!"

"_Kraang is already on the way to that which is called the laboratory that is having the lens that is needed by Kraang."_

Raph, still clueless, stared. "What?"

Donnie sighed irritably. "One of them is going to a lab to get it."

"Which lab?"

"Maybe if we listen, _they'll tell us!_"

Donnie snapped as he threw his arms out in anger. This cause him to knock his controller against the side of the car, and the joystick shifted. I looked up at the screen in time to see something green and glowing before it went to static.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Raph!" Donnie snapped. "We lost the signal!"

"Me?! What the hell did I do?!"

I instantly ran forward and put myself between Raph and Donnie, putting both hands on Raph's plastron.

"Whoa, boy, take it easy," I said quickly.

I managed to push him back far enough so that Donnie was no longer in harm's way. Raph glared at his brother for another second before groaning and turning away.

"Donnie, is there any way for you to find out where that lab is?" Leo asked.

"I believe so," said Donnie. "Just give me a minute and I'll find it."

I sighed as I turned away from Raph and went over to my station in the back, sitting down in my seat.

It was probably only a few minutes after he started looking that Donnie finally spoke up.

"Ah-ha! I think I found the diamond map!" he said proudly. "Now, it's a bit blurry, but maybe we could follow it to the laboratory."

"We don't have much time 'til the Kraang drill fires!" said Leo. "Let's go!"

At once, the others all went to their stations. Leo buckled his seatbelt before instantly pressing on the gas. Not even five seconds later, there came a loud _ka-thump _as we ran over what felt like a huge speed bump. My butt left my seat for a second and I yelped as I grabbed the edges of my chair. Leo instantly slammed his foot on the breaks and we skidded to a halt.

"Ka-thump?" Donnie asked. "That's a really bad sound."

"It sounded more like a ba-dump," said Mikey.

"I heard a flap," said Raph.

"Flap?" the two youngest asked in unison.

Raph nodded. Then, with a loud _flap_, Raph slapped his little brothers across the face. They glared up at him as they rubbed their cheeks.

"Flap," Raph said finally.

I rolled my eyes as I got out of my seat and followed the boys out of the Shellraiser. I went around the corner to look at what we hit, and I gasped. There, now several feet away from the van, was what looked like a giant bug. Except, it was nothing like any bug I had ever seen. It was massive, and appeared to have some kind of metal equipment attached into its very body. Cautiously, we all walked up to the huge thing. Donnie kneeled beside it while Leo, Mikey and I stood over him. Raph stood far behind us, looking terrified.

"What is _that_?" Leo said, disgusted.

I cringed. "Dude, that is straight up nasty."

"Ugh, smells like a butt sandwich," Mikey groaned.

From behind me I heard Raph make a loud grunt, as though he were about to be sick. Donnie leaned in closer, examining the mess before him.

"Oh… Oh, dear…" Donnie reached into his belt, pulled out a pencil and began prodding the bug with the end of it. He gasped. "Would you look at that? Hideous _and _beautiful…"

I raised my eyebrow at him. How could anything similar to this thing be called beautiful? Donnie touched the same end of the pencil to his chin that he used to touch the roach, and yelped when he realized there was slim on it.

"So, what is it, Donnie?" Leo asked.

Donnie gasped as he rubbed the slim off his face. "Gah… It's my Spy-Roach."

"You're what?" Raph snapped. "_You're what_?!"

"Dude, what the hell happened to him?" I said, horrified.

"It must've been exposed to some mutagen," Donnie said, and he picked up one of the bug's antennas. "Yah see how the nav-helmet merged with its exoskeleton? We have never seen organic and inorganic matter fuse i-i-in just an amazi-"

"That's great, Donnie," Raph said quickly, and we all turned to look at him. "We can discuss this some more when we're driving away at a thousand miles an hour!"

"Come on, you big baby!" Mikey jeered as he, Leo and I walked over towards Raph. "What're you worried about? We creamed it with a van! It's not like it's gonna get up and come after us."

"Uh, guys…?"

We turned around, and I gasped. The spy-roach was now up on its feet, and he was holding Donnie down by his neck. He then lifted the turtle into the air, and the latter screamed.

"Or maybe it would," Mikey said lowly.

Raph screamed in terror at the sight of the bug. Spy-Roach tossed Donnie to the side, and then started to march towards us. Raph yelped before hopping into the Shellraiser, and the roach continued forward. The others and I pulled out our weapon before running forward, jumping into the air, and diving towards the bug. I raised my kamas and brought them down. But when I opened my eyes I saw that I hadn't even pierced anything, and the blades were simply hooked into the crook of one of his arms. The roach started moving again, and we all tried to keep it back.

"This thing's tough!" Leo grunted.

"No kidding!" I growled, trying to pull the roach back. "I can't put a dent in this thing!"

"Naturally!" Donnie said roughly. "Cockroaches are among the most resilient life forms on the planet!"

"And the grossest!" Mikey groaned.

The roach lifted his leg and swung it back, kicking Mikey off of him. Mikey flew into the air, hit the wall, and then fell head-first into a trashcan.

"Sensitive roach!" he yelled.

"Where's Raph?" said Leo.

Suddenly, there was a shout.

"Eat hot manhole cover!"

I had just enough time to leap way from the roach before Raph started firing covers from the Shellraiser. Cover after cover started hitting the roach head on, hitting him in the chest and his arms. Then, one cover smashed into his head, and he slowly fell back onto his back. Raph, who had been closing his eyes when he first that last one, opened them to stare at the fallen roach. Suddenly, an antenna twitched, and Raph lost it.

"Oh no!"

He started screaming as he started firing cover after cover at the roach, accomplishing nothing but hitting the brick wall.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Leo yelled as he grabbed his brother's arm. "Ease up, Raph! I think you got him!"

Raph nodded slowly. "Okay, okay…"

But, he suddenly fired one last cover that hit the roach right between his legs. I rolled my eyes.

"You just had to get that last one in there, huh?" I said as I made my way to the car door.

"What do we with it-"

"Forget the roach!" Leo snapped at Raph. "We gotta stop the Kraang before they destroy the earth."

As Leo entered the car I turned to see Raph standing at the end of the vehicle, staring back at the roach.

"Leo's right," he said quickly. "We gotta go!"

"You just wanna get away from that thing!" Mikey said accusingly, smirking as he pointed a finger at his brother's face.

Raph glared daggers at his brother. "Is that so wrong?" he snapped, gesturing behind him, only to reveal that the roach was no longer there. "Oh no, it's _gone_!"

"Where'd it go?" I said.

Suddenly, Raph grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the car door as he pushed the other two through it.

"Come on guys, we gotta move!"

As soon as we were inside Leo pushed on the gas, and we were off.

* * *

We drove for what felt like a few minutes before caught up with the Kraang at the laboratory.

"There's the van!" Donnie cried.

I leaned over to look at one of the screens and saw a white van, its back doors opened, and two Kraang-droids carrying a large box that must have been holding the diamond lens.

"They must've picked up the lens," said Donnie.

"Ram that sucker!" Raph barked.

Leo slammed his foot on the gas petal, and the Shellraiser speed up to an enormous amount. I managed to grab the sides of my seat before we slammed head-on into the side of the white van. The smaller vehicle when tumbling in circles, the back doors flying opened and the box containing the lens fell out. The van slid down the road a bit before coming to a halt. Leo stopped the car immediately, and we all quickly jumped out of our seats and ran out of the Shellraiser. Drawing our weapons out, we ran forward towards the van as several Kraang-droids, some disguised as humans, others in just their silver and blue robotic skeletons.

"Halt, Kraang!" Leo shouted.

"The halting of Kraang is not a thing that the ones who are 'turtles and the girl' will be doing to Kraang!" a disguised Kraang said defiantly.

"Wrong!" said Leo. "The halting of Kraang is exactly the thing that the ones who are- Ugh, just _halt_!"

"Which should we save first?" Donnie asked irritably. "The world or the English language?"

"I got the lens!" Raph shouted.

I turned my head to see Raph dragging the box by the edge towards us. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and I looked up towards the van to see something huge standing on top of it. It was the Spy-Roach. Raph yelped, dropping the box and jumping back several feet. Spy-Roach lifted a large object he had in his hands, which was revealed to be a Kraang laser gun, and started firing at us. The Kraang turned their guns on the roach and started firing at him. Somehow, he was a better shot than them, because within seconds the Kraang droids were all down. Spy-Roach jumped down from the top of the van and looked directly at us.

"Mikey, Donnie, you take the roach," said Leo. "Nia, you go with them. Raph, you're coming with me."

At once, Mikey, Donnie and I ran forward towards the roach, weapons raised.

"All right, roachy," said Mikey. "Time to meet your maker!"

"Wait, isn't that me?" asked Donnie.

Mikey nodded. "Exactly. Go get 'em, tiger."

"Hey!"

Mikey grabbed Donnie by his belt strap and threw him forward towards the roach. Donnie had enough time to glare back at his little brother before he was grabbed by the face and thrown off to the side. I glared at the bug before rearing my hand back and throwing my tessen at him. It hit him in his head and bounced back toward me. I reached up and grabbed it as the roach started marching towards us.

"Oh, great," I groaned.

I looked over at Mikey to see him looking up at the sky. I looked up too, and immediately leapt to the side as a group of flying Kraang-droids started heading right at us, shooting their lasers. I leapt to my feet and turned around, and saw Leo dragging the box that contained the diamond lens; he was all by himself. Where was Raph? He was supposed to be helping Leo.

The droids shot nonstop at Leo until he finally trips, falling back and dropping the box. He was forced to run back to avoid getting shot. One Kraang-droid landed on the ground and opened the box, reaching inside to grab a small, clear object that must be the lens. Before I could do anything the droid launched itself into the air, following the others.

"Oh no, the Kraang has the lens again!" said Mikey.

The roach shoved him out of the way as he made his way over to the van. I quickly got up and ran over to him. He had been thrown into a trashcan that was now tipped over.

"Mikey," I said as I pulled him out by his legs. "Are you all right?"

Mikey shook his head as he sat up. The looked down beside him and picked something up. It was a can of what looked like bug spray.

"Sweet!" said Mikey.

From behind me I heard a loud yelp. I turned to see the roach standing at the end of the Shellraiser, and he appeared to be standing over Raph.

"C'mon!" I said, and we both sprinted towards the Shellraiser.

Suddenly, Donnie came out of nowhere and leapt up, rearing his staff back and slamming it against the roach. The roach turned and advanced on Donnie instead. But the turtle ducked as his younger brother leapt over him, brandishing the can of bug spray.

"We're not done with you yet, Spy-Roach!" he said.

He pressed the button, and a large amount of green spray issued out. The roach squealed and cringed as he was hit with spray. I took the opportunity to run out beside him and aimed a powerful kick to his side. Donnie smacked his bo staff against his back, and Mikey punched him in the front. For once, the bug finally seemed to be going down. Mikey sprayed the can again, and this time the roach fell onto the ground, screeching and writhing in the middle of the road.

"Yes! Nail him, Mikey!" Donnie yelled.

Mikey shook the can before aiming it and pressed the button again. But this time, nothing came out; the can was empty.

"Uh-oh…" said Mikey.

Spy-Roach then stood up and aimed his Kraang gun at us, ready to shoot. But before he could fire a large truck suddenly came zooming past, hitting the roach and taking him with it. There was a second where we all just stared.

"How's that grill taste, bug?" Mikey shouted after the truck.

Donnie threw his hands into the air and cheered. I grinned as I placed my tessen back into its holster. I glanced behind me and saw Raph slowly walking up to us.

"There you are," I said.

"Where's the diamond?" asked Donnie.

Raph glanced at the ground. "Uh…"

"Raph lost it," we all turned to see Leo marching up to us, a Kraang-droids severed head skewered onto his katana. "Raph, where were you?"

"I was busy!"

"Busy cowering in terror!"

Raph glared at his brother before looking away. For once, he had no comeback to throw at his older brother. Generally speaking, that was a bad sign.

"We gotta find the drill before the Kraang cracks open Manhattan like an egg!" said Leo.

At once, he, Mike and Donnie ran for the Shellraiser. I was about to follow when I noticed that Raph didn't move.

"Raph, come on," I said. My voice was serious, but it was still gentle. "We gotta move."

Raph sighed. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

Things were pretty quiet once we got back in the Shellraiser, and awkward, too. For some reason, all I could do was look at Raph and see how angry and ashamed he looked.

"You blew it, Raph," Leo said sternly from the front. "You gotta get your head together."

"I know," he said lowly. "This stupid phobia's gonna get the whole team killed. Listen, I'm… I'm sorry, Leo."

Leo glanced back at his brother, his eyes had softened.

"Guys," said Donnie, and several screens pulled up the image of a map of Manhattan. "Okay, here's a map of known Kraang facilities, and here's a map of the fault lines in New York City. Now, if the Kraang are gonna drill into the earth's crust, than this is where they'd do it."

"Alright then, guys," said Leo. "We got a little more time before the Kraang start drilling."

"We better get there quick then," I said.

Leo nodded and he pressed on the gas a little more. For a few moments all was quiet. Then, there was a loud bump followed by what sounded like a running chainsaw.

"What's that sound?" said Raph.

"I don't see anything outside," said Donnie as he looked at the screen. Then his eyes widened. "Uh-oh…"

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's the roach. He's back!"

"What?!" Raph leapt out of his seat. "Where?! Where the heck is he?!"

I stood up from my seat, and I could feel something vibrating underneath my feet that wasn't the van. I kneeled down and pressed my hand to the floor.

"Oh, no…"

"He's underneath the van!" Raph screamed, grabbing onto Donnie. "_He's underneath the van!_"

Suddenly, the van swerved hard to the right as we came to a sudden, jerky stop.

"He cut the drive shaft?!" Raph yelled before Donnie finally pushed him off.

"How does he keep finding us?" Leo asked exasperatedly.

"Hm… Well, he could be using the homing signal I set up so Spy-Roach could find its way back to the van," said Donnie.

"You did _what_?" I gasped.

"There's a homing signal?!" Leo snapped.

"Dude, even _I_ would've turned that off," said Mikey.

Donnie glared. "Excuse me, Mikey, I've been a little distracted," he turned away from us and started typing away at his computer. "Maybe I can use the signal to tap into is camera to see what he's seeing."

"None of this makes any sense," said Raph. "Why is he so mad at us?"

"And… got it," said Donnie as he pressed enter.

Then, on every screen in the van, the short video of Raph trying to smash the roach earlier played over and over, his scream echoing like a broken record.

"Oh, crud…" Raph said lowly.

"I don't think he's mad at us," Donnie looked at his hotheaded brother. "I think he's mad at _you_."

"Wow," said Mikey. "That stinks for someone who's afraid of roaches."

Raph glared at him. "Irony. Got it, thanks. So, are there any more surprises?"

As soon as he spoke, something suddenly burst through the floor of van, causing me to jump back and Raph to fall back onto his shell.

"_He has a saw?!_" Raph screamed as he leapt out of the way of the roach's saw. "The cockroach has a saw!"

Leo pushed Raph behind him and withdrew his katana, slicing the saw off of its cord. It slowly powered down as black goo squirted out from it.

"Not anymore!" said Leo. "Donnie, the rest of us will keep the roach busy-"

"We will?" Raph asked fearfully.

Leo grabbed him by his plastron and yanked him up. "Yes!" he said firmly, and he looked back at Donnie. "You gotta fix the Shellraiser fast. Like, _yesterday_ fast!"

Leo dragged Raph outside by his plastron as me and Mikey followed him. Leo brought Raph out to the front and let him go, but Raph tripped and fell to the ground. He reached up and grabbed Leo's hand, and surprisingly grabbed mine with his other. Ignoring how tight his grip was, I kneeled beside him in an attempt to comfort him.

"Hey, Spy-Roach!" Leo yelled. "Raph's out here! Come and get him!"

"Really?!" Raph snapped. "You're using me as _bait_?"

"Yep."

Before I could say anything, Spy-Roach suddenly crawled out from underneath the van and stood up. Leo and Mikey both grabbed Raph under his arms and started running, me following right behind them. I reached into my pocket and threw a few stars, but they simply bounced off of him. We ran into the next alley over and before the other two dropped Raph in the middle of it. Me and the other two ran to the side next to a few trashcans.

"Hold," Leo said.

Spy-Roach appeared around the corner, and Raph screamed as the bug approached him.

"Now!"

The boys leapt up, Leo holding the trash can and Mikey holding the lid. They both managed to trap the roach into the can, and I leapt up and landed on top of it. Barley a second later, we were all knocked off and thrown back out of the alley. I pushed myself up and looked up to see the roach turning away from us, and walking towards Raph.

"Raph, run!" I shouted.

Raph didn't need to be told twice. He screamed as he sprang to his feet and started running from the roach, who continued to follow him until both were out of sight.

I stood up on my feet, rubbing my arm, which had started to feel sore. I walked over to the other two as they got to their feet.

"What now, Leo?" I asked.

"C'mon," he said. "We gotta follow them."

We all turned, and Mikey and I followed Leo through the alley.

* * *

"Do you think he knows?" I asked.

"If he did, he wouldn't be hiding in there, would he?" said Leo.

We were all currently looking around the corner into a dark alley. Raph was there, staring at the wall in front of him. It was obvious that he felt that he was in a dead end. Not wanting to scare him, we all slowly starting to walk towards him. I looked over at Mikey, and I saw a wicked grin on his face. He suddenly reared his foot back and kicked the dumpster next to him. Raph, scared out of his mind, fell to the ground and put his arms around his head, his shell still to us.

"I'm sorry I tried to smash you, okay?" he said, and I was shocked to hear him whimpering. "I'm sorry! I learned a very important lesson. I'll never be cruel again, just leave me alone!"

Beaming, Mikey cupped his hands around his mouth and adopted a deep, creepy voice. "On one condition…"

"Ahh! Anything!" Raph yelled.

"Mikey, don't!" I hissed angrily.

Mikey smirked at me before continuing, "Be good to Michelangelo!"

Raph raised his head a little, not looking at us. "What…?"

"Let him read your comics once in a while!"

Raph whipped around, eyes wide with both fear and confusion. They both suddenly melted into anger and frustration as Raph leapt to his feet and ran at his brother.

"MIKEY!"

Even as Mikey turned to run, Raph reared his foot back and kicked Mikey right underneath his shell.

"Ow!" Mikey whined as he hid behind Leo, who kept the raging Raph away. "So much for learning your lesson."

"No offense Mikey, but you kinda deserved that one," I said as I folded my arms.

"Nice job, Raph," Leo said, grinning.

"What're you talking about?" Raph snapped. "Where's the bug?"

"You didn't see?" I asked.

"Didn't see what?"

I giggled as I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the alley. When we were out I released him as I pointed forward. Spy-Roach had fallen into a section of wet cement, which had immediately dried and hardened. Now it stood, still as a statue. Raph stared up at the thing, then he grinned.

"Ahh… stuck, huh?" Raph said slyly, tapping the bug's head with his sai. "Not so tough now, are yah, roachy? You're just a…" suddenly, the cement cover head fell off and hit the ground. "Hollow shell…"

Bit by bit, the roach's empty skin suddenly fell into a dusty heap on the ground. Raph stepped back as he stared, eyes wide.

"What the-?"

"What happened?" I said.

"He must've molted," said Leo.

"They molt?" Raph asked.

Leo nodded. "Yeah, roaches shed their skin when… they get… bigger…"

"Dude, you're not kidding," said Mikey.

Me and Raph both turned, and gasped. What stood before us looked nothing like a cockroach. Covered with slim and with huge black eyes, it kind of looked like a giant, blueish larva with legs and arms. I gulped as I looked over at Raph. This thing might not look like a cockroach, but that didn't stop it from being one in Raph's eyes.

"Cockroach," he said lowly. "Why did it have to be a cockroach?"

Suddenly, what looked like large robotic wings emerged from its back, and the bug screeched at us as it floated into the air.

"You've gotta kidding me…" I whimpered.

"And it flies!" said Raph.

"Run!" yelled Leo.

I spun on my heel and ran as fast as I could away from the deformed bug. We ran for probably only a few seconds before I heard a grunt behind me. I turned to see that Raph had fallen. I ran back to help him, but the roach creature had already swooped down and picked him up.

"Raph!" I yelled.

"He's heading back towards the Shellraiser," said Leo. "C'mon!"

We followed the roach as best as we could while heading back to the Shellraiser. I kept my eyes up in the sky as the bug flew across the sky with Raph in his arms. Then, at one point I saw them struggling, and suddenly Raph fell. I gasped in horror. But the loud crash from nearby told me that he had fallen into a dumpster, so he must've been alright.

We rounded the corner to where the Shellraiser was. Me and the others got into the van, but I stopped by the doorway and looked out.. Down the alley, hoping out of the dumpster, was Raph. Behind him was the bug. Raph screamed as he sprinted to us.

"Start the engine! _Start the engine!_"

I grabbed Raph and helped him into the van as Mikey quickly shut the door.

"Donnie, did you get this thing working?" Leo shouted.

"We've got bigger problems!" he said. "We gotta stop that drill!"

Raph and I both sat down at our station. The screen came on, and the roach appeared. Raph cringed and growled at the sight of the thing.

"Hold on, Raph!"

I reached down in front of me and took hold of the handles to the canon. I pulled the trigger, and balls of compressed trash shot out and hit the bug. But they just bounced off his chest.

"Huh?"

"What the-?"

Raph was cut off as the van doors suddenly snapped open, and the roach shoved his head in, screeching. Mikey grabbed the edge of the doorway and kicked the bug out.

"Ha! Take that!"

Suddenly, I could hear the sound of the tires spinning on the road, and we were off, racing down the street, leaving the bug behind. As we drove I heard Raph groan beside me.

"Raph, are you all right?" I asked.

"No, I'm not," he said gruffly. "I had my chance and I couldn't face him. "I just… couldn't do it!"

Raph stood up from his station and walked off, sitting in a chair near the front. I leaned over as I watched him sadly.

"Look on the bright side," said Mikey. "In fifteen minutes we could all melt in a fountain of lava."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

Mikey frowned. "Okay, that sounded a lot brighter in my head…"

"The laser drill is just past the front gate," said Donnie as he looked at a blueprint on his computer screen. "Kraang droids everywhere. Hope you have a good plan."

"I'm gonna ram through the gate and we'll go from there," said Leo.

"Works for me."

Leo turned his head to look back at Raph, a very stern look on his face. Raph looked at him for a moment before hiding his face in his arms. I sighed before getting up and slowly walking over to him.

"Raph…?"

Raph didn't look at me, he didn't even move.

"Raph," I said. "Come on, buddy, look at me."

There was slight pause before Raph finally lifted his head and looked up at me. I took the opportunity to sit on the surface of the table he sat by. I crossed my leg and sighed.

"Fear is a natural response," I started lowly. "And something that's natural isn't something to be ashamed of. Everyone in the world has something they're afraid of," I hesitated. "Even I'm afraid."

"What're you afraid of?" Raph asked.

I looked at him for a long moment. Then, I reached up and unzipped my white hoodie, shifting the right side off my shoulder. I then pulled the strap of my tanktop away to reveal the small, pale scar on my right shoulder- the scar that I had gained from my horrible childhood, before I met the guys. Raph's eyes widened. He knew about my scar and how I got; they all knew. From the corner of my eye I could see Donnie and Mikey staring at me, but I kept my eyes on the red-banded turtle in front of me.

"The same thing I've been afraid of since before I met you," I answered. "Even after you guys found me, I was afraid that I would see him again. That I would have to go back to that horrible place. Even now, I'm scared that somehow I'll run into him, and everything will just be ruined."

Raph closed his mouth and gulped. Not taking my eyes off of him, I slowly let go of the strap and zipped up my hoodie.

"But, even if I'm still afraid, I don't let that fear take over me. If I do, it'll have power over me and everything I do. It would end up controlling me and my life," I leaned in slightly. "You can't let your fear take you like this, Raph. You letting the fear make you its prey, but don't."

Raph stared up at me for a few seconds, apparently speechless. Then he sighed, and nodded.

"I know, Nia…"

I reached up and patted his shoulder. He lifted his hand and gripped my wrist gently, obviously finding comfort. I grinned slightly. Suddenly, the alarm in the van went off, buzzing off and on.

"Uh-oh…" said Donnie. "We've got company… again!"

Me and Raph both sprang to our feet as a loud banging came from above us from the roof.

"What was that?" he said. "Where is it?"

Suddenly, the latch to the top opened and a long, pale arm shot through and grabbed Mikey. The turtle screamed as he was suddenly pulled up and out of the van.

"It's got Mikey!" Donnie cried.

"We've gotta do something!" said Leo.

I stared at one of the screens. I could see the bug tangling Mikey by his arm really high in the air. If he fell… The thought made me shiver.

"I'll stop him."

I whipped around to stare at Raph.

"You don't have to do this just to prove you're not afraid," said Leo.

"I am afraid… and that's why I have to do this," Raph marched over to the latch on the floor that lead to the Stealth-Cycle. "I'm coming, Mikey. No 6 foot tall cockroach is gonna eat my brother!"

And with that, he leapt down beneath the van, closing the latch behind him. Leo did a super sharp turn so that he was facing the roach. He yanked on a lever, and the Stealth-Cycle expelled out into the street, Raph driving it. Once the roach saw Raph he tossed Mikey, who landed on the roof of the van.

"Mikey, get in!" I shouted.

Mikey leapt through the hatch on the roof and shut it before Leo pressed on the gas, and we headed for the Kraang's laser drill.

* * *

It took us only a few minutes to get to the facility with Leo speeding the way he was. But even as we got closer and closer to the building, I could see the doors starting to shut and many Kraang-droids coming out, all armed.

"Alright guys, get ready," said Leo. "We're going in!"

Leo pressed on the gas even more and we sped up. Even as the Kraang started shooting at us we simply just ran over them. I looked up at one of the screens, and saw that the space between the doors was beginning to shorten.

"Leo…" I said warningly.

But before I could say more we rammed into the doors, which closed in on us. The jolt sent me and Mikey fling forward and landing on the ground. I groaned in pain as I sat up.

"Are we in…?" Mikey groaned.

"Nope…" I muttered. "Not even close."

Leo pressed on the gas as hard as he could, but the van wouldn't move. He groaned as he pulled out his T-Phone.

"Raph, we're stuck!" he said. "It's up to you! Get the drill!"

* * *

**Raph's P.O.V.**

"I'm on it!"

I sped up, approaching the facility as fast as my bike could take me. Suddenly, giant, stupid roach seemed to fall from the freaking sky and landed right in front of the stuck Shellraiser. It saw me coming near him and screeched. _Aw, Christ…_

"This is either gonna be really cool, or really painful."

I press a button on one of the handle bars, and the bike instantly sped up. The deformed roach stood his ground, screeching as it reached out. The next thing I knew I had ran up over the roach and was now shooting over the wall of the facility. I yelled as I soon came crashing down, knocking over several Kraang-droids in the process. The bike skidded on its side for a moment before stopping. I groaned in pain as I awkwardly pushed myself out of the bike seat.

"Okay," I grunted. "It was both…"

I looked up as I got up to my feet. I could see the drill from here. It looked like a giant ball with legs. I ran up to a droid that was standing next to a chart and I punched him, knocking him down. I looked at the chart that showed how close the drill was getting through the earth's crust.

"That laser drill is at 400 meters from the earth core," said one of the droids.

"Not for long!"

Without hesitating I sprinted over to the laser drill, leaping over any obstacles in my way. Once I was there, I looked around to see if any Kraang were around before leaping up and climbing up the giant metal ball. I pushed myself up to my feet as I reached the top. But, before I could do anything there was a loud bang from behind me and the ball shook slightly. I whipped around. It was the roach. _Damn!_

"Ugh! You gotta be kidding me!" I yelled, throwing my arms down. I turned back to glare at the bug. "Alright, insect! You think I'm scared of you? I aced your butt twice already, you wanna go for number 3, huh? Do yah? Come and get me!"

I snatched off my football helmet and threw it at the roach, only for it to bounce off his head and shoot up into the sky. He screeched at me before I leapt up and landed on his head. He screeched as we went up into the sky. I leaned back and started punching him in the face as hard as I could. The bug hissed before we landed back on the ball and I jumped off of him. At the same time, the legs on the ball seemed to be moving, and so was the ball itself.

I ran up to the bug and grabbed him, attempting to punch him again. But, he head-butted me and knocked me down. He kicked me while I was down, but I grabbed his leg and bit down on it hard. He squealed as I reached up and punched him in his face, knocking him back. I stood up, shaking my head and spitting slim out of my mouth. What I assumed was his fist came up and hit me in my face. I punched him in the face again, and when he went to punch me I blocked it. The bug screeched in my face, spit flying everywhere as it glared at me with empty black eyes.

I snapped. Yelling with furry, I shoved my fist into his gut, making him keel over in pain. Growling, I reared my other hand back and threw it forward in a punch that sent him flying off the drill, crashing into the concrete. Not wasting any time, I withdrew my sais as I ran back across the ball. I leapt up and spun in midair, ramming my sais into the ball and causing it to spin. I yanked out my sais and ran with the ball until the part with the actual laser came up. I stopped the ball and ran up to the laser, shoved my sais into each side, and yanked it out, its cord still leading into the ball. I turned around and looked down at the ground, right at the stupid bug.

"Drill this!" I yelled.

I aimed the laser right at the bug, and a few seconds later it exploded in a mass of light and slim. I grunted as I lifted the laser higher and aimed it down at the ball's legs. I sliced off one of the legs and the thing came crashing down. The laser started to power down and I yanked my sais out. I looked up at the sky, and I saw my helmet shooting right back towards me. I jumped up into the air and caught it as it came to me. I shoved the helmet back on my head as I landed on the ground next to my bike. I flipped it back onto its wheels before jumping it and quickly starting up, racing away from the drill.

As I neared the gate I saw that the Shellraiser was still stuck, and the Kraang were firing at it. I turned the throttle and sped up, running over all the droids nearest the van. The doors slid open and the van quickly started to back up. I drove out and sped back underneath the Shellraiser until the bike was back inside. I lowered my hands and sighed as I leaned my head back. _Finally got that stupid bug._

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

Needless to say, Raph was somewhat of a hero that night. After explaining all that had happened, we discovered that not only did he destroy the drill singlehandedly, he also faced his fear and destroyed the bug all on his own.

"Well, Raph," said Leo, as said turtle punched at the dummy as we all sat inside the pit. "You faced your fear and saved the city. Not bad for a Wednesday."

I lifted my head up. "Oh yeah… I forgot it was Hump Day."

"Faced my fear?" said Raph. "I _concurred _my fear!"

I turned around to look at him. Raph suddenly put a headlock on Mikey, who had been at the pinball machine, and dragging him over.

"I looked my fear in the eye, and I zapped it into oblivion!" Raph thrilled, taking out his sai and pretending to shoot something.

Mikey said, "Wow," before Raph dropped him, smirking as he put his sai back in his belt. Mikey got up and threw an arm around Raph's shoulders.

"So, you're not afraid of cockroaches anymore, huh?"

Still smirking, Raph shook his head. "Nope."

This time, Mikey smirked. "Good, good… Then, you won't mind the one I just slipped into your shell?"

Raph's smirk fell and he stiffened, his eyes wide and twitching. Then he screamed as he leapt up and started running around the living room, his hands flying behind his back, obviously searching for the roach. All three of his brothers started to laugh, I just giggled and rolled my eyes.

"Raph, it's okay!" I yelled. "There's no roach! Mikey tricked you!"

Raph skidded to a halt and spun around, his mouth hanging open. Mikey fell down on his shell, gripping his sides as he laughed his head off. Raph growled before making a run at his brother. I sprang to my feet and stood between them, hands held out.

"Dude," I said calmly. "Just let it be, just this once. Please?"

Raph threw his head back and let out a groan of frustration as he turned away. I grinned as I placed my hands on my hips and turned around.

"Mikey, that wasn't very nice."

"So?" Mikey said as he sat up, whipping a tear from his eye.

"So, you might wanna play nice," I kneeled down beside him. "Because the next time you do that, I might not be here to save you."

Mikey's eyes widened as his face fell. I smirked slightly before standing up and heading towards my room, intending on playing my guitar.

"Hey, Nia."

I turned around to see Raph stepping out of the pit and walking towards me. I grinned as I waited for him, arms folded.

"Sup?"

"Hey, listen," Raph rubbed the back of his neck. "About what you said in the van before… well, thanks. I, ah… I kinda needed it."

I smiled at him. "C'mon, Raph. You know you don't have to thank me for that."

Raph shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But, yah didn't have to, yah know…"

Raph gave a stiff nod to my right shoulder before glancing around. I lifted my hand and touched my shoulder. I knew what he was getting at.

"I had to do that so I could make you see."

Raph looked at me. "And… you're really still afraid… of him?"

"…Not as much as I used to be, but, yeah," I said after a moment. "But, I'm not who I used to be either. I was frightened little girl when you first met me, Raph, and I knew nothing of love or compassion. I couldn't defend myself even if I tried, but I can now. Even if I somehow meet him again, I'm prepared," I grinned. "Besides, I've got you guys. What's there to worry about?"

Raph looked at me for a few moments, then he grinned as he let out a short laugh.

"Yeah… you're right."

I smiled at him. Then, I glanced around me before leaning in and gesturing for him to come closer. Raph frowned slightly before taking a step closer to me and leaning in.

"What?"

"Don't you have a certain little brother to get back at?" I whispered.

Raph's eyes widened as he stared at me. A second later his lips curled into that devilish grinned I knew so well.

"You're awesome, Nia."

And without another word he turned around and ran back into the living room with the others. I rolled my eyes as I turned and headed for my room.

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapter guys. I would really love to get some more reviews from you, thanks! Bye!**


	25. Baxter's Gambit

Ch. 20  
Baxter's Gambit

Five ninjas walk into a bar… Oh, wait, that's wrong. Five ninjas go on a stakeout/tracking night to see what aliens are up to, because that's all they seem to do anymore. Yeah… the one with the bar sounded like it would've been funnier. But, you know, that's exactly what we were doing; standing on a roof watching some Kraang droids go into a building. No, it wasn't a bar.

I stood with my arms folded, leaning against sky light as Mikey sat on the other side of it. Raph and Leo were standing up, the latter looking more patient than the other. Donnie was kneeling by the edge, telescope to his face, looking down at the droids. I chewed silently on my gum as I waited for something to happen

"Whoa!" Donnie said suddenly. "That's a sub-spatial endoparticle disrupter!"

"English, dude," I said. "English."

"Yeah, you're gonna have to explain if that's 'oh-no' or 'yay'," said Leo.

Donnie looked around at us. "In the hands of the Kraang, it's a definite 'oh-no'."

"Why?" asked Mikey. "What does it do?"

"The disrupter can de-synchronize subatomic resonances, which invert polymolecular structures, causing them to implode."

I slowly blew a large bubble and popped it as I stared at Donnie. I understood what 'implode' meant, but I didn't get the rest of it. Mikey was no better and frowned in confusion at his brother.

"It makes things go 'boom'," Raph explained as though it were obvious.

"Technically," piped up Donnie. "It makes things go _zweeee-chooooo! Pop!_"

There was silence as we all stared blankly at Donnie, blinking at him. He shrugged.

"It's important to be accurate," he said simply.

"No one in the world is that accurate, Donnie," I told him seriously.

"Alright, guys," said Leo. "We need to be careful with this. We get in, grab the disrupter, and get out. Nothing too messy, okay? We don't wanna get hit by that thing."

"You don't have to tell us twice," said Raph.

"Let's go."

We all walked up to the ledge of the roof and stopped. I stood between Leo and Donnie as I stared down into the street below. I could see the droid that was carrying the disrupter from here. I took my gum out of my mouth and threw it down on the surface of the roof.

"Okay guys, get in position," said Leo. "Ready…"

"Let's just do this!" Raph said urgently.

In unison, we all leapt up from the ledge and dove down towards the street, doing several summersaults before landing in a crouched position. We all stood up and looked around. From across the street on the other side of the group of droids, I could see several figures. Most of them were Foot ninjas, and the other two were Xever and Bradford.

"Kraang, _and _Fishface, _and _Dogpound?" Raph said, beaming. "I must be dreamin', pinch me!"

A second later he let out a loud "Ow!" when Mikey reached up and pinched his cheek. Raph glared down at his sibling and smacked his head.

"Ow! You said…!" Mikey whined.

The mutants from the other side let out loud yells as they ran forward. Me and my bros took out our weapons and ran at the Kraang as well. The Kraang didn't seem to know who to focus on, so they just started firing back and forth. I opened my tessen and threw it out. It hit a droid right in the head, embedding itself. The droid fell as I ran up and snatched the fan out. I went down to my knees and slid forward, my kneepads scrapping the road. I knocked a droid down onto its back. I reared my leg up and kicked the gun out of its hands before slicing its head off. From behind me I hear quick footsteps, and I knew it was a Foot ninja. I threw my tessen forward as I turned around, but the ninja blocked it with his katana. I was able to draw out my kamas and hold them up in time to block the blade as it came down towards my head. I shoved the ninja back and swept my leg underneath him, knocking him down. I shoved my kamas back into my belt before running forward and picking my tessen off the ground.

I turned around to see a Kraang droid run at their large truck and grab something out of the back. It was the disrupter. The droid picked it up and aimed it forward. I looked over to see Mikey in its range.

"Mikey!" I yelled.

A bright light started issuing from the barrel of the gun before the droid pulled the trigger. Donnie suddenly leapt forward and pushed Mikey out of the way, knocking them both down. The shot hit a nearby car instead, and with a loud _zwee-choooo_, it shrunk and disappeared with a soft _pop!_

"Well, what do yah know?" I muttered.

"Whoa!" said Mikey. "Donnie, you totally called it, bro!"

Donnie grinned. I heard the roar of an engine, and I looked up to see that the Kraang's van was driving away.

"Leo, what now?" I asked.

"Guys, we gotta move!" Leo called out. "Raph, now!"

I whipped around to see that Raph was still fighting heatily with Fishface, both of them apparently oblivious to the thing that we all wanted. In the distance, I could hear the sound of approaching police sirens. Raph looked back at us before grunting as he shoved the mutant fish off. Fishface stepped back and glared at Raph.

"Yes, run along now, boy!" he jeered before turning around and running off.

"This isn't over, Fishface!" Raph yelled.

"Raph, c'mon," I said. "We gotta go!"

He nodded, and we all ran out of the street and into a nearby alley that we all knew held a manhole.

* * *

Training can generally be exciting and fun, depending on what we're doing. Right now, it was exciting, but not so fun just yet.

We were all sitting on our knees in a line in the middle of the dojo. From the corner of my eye, I saw Sensei step behind Donnie, who was at the end line, and therefore, that meant he was first. I saw a flash of brown as Sensei raised the wooden practice sword. There was a pause. But just as Donnie moved forward the sword came down and smacked his head.

"Oh-! Aw, man!" Donnie whined as he rubbed his head.

I saw Sensei move to stand behind Mikey and he raised the sword again. Mikey flinched forward, but nothing happened and he sat back. He flinched forward again, still nothing. It wasn't until the third time he flinched and nothing happened that he spoke.

"Just so we're clear, Sensei, you are plannin' on swingin' right- AH!"

I saw Mikey rub his head gingerly as Sensei moved to stand behind to Raph, but by now I couldn't see him even if I glanced over. There was a short pause. Raph's shoulders barley flinched before he too was smacked in the head.

"Ow!"

I straightened up slightly as I heard Sensei finally step behind me. I waited for a moment as I heard the sword lift into the air. I took a deep breath. _Do it… Now!_ I dove forward to summersault out of the way. But I was halfway through it when something whacked me right between my shoulder blades.

"Gah!" I yelped. I slowly sat back as I muttered, "Aw, blood hell…"

Raph snickered and I shot a glare at him. I heard Sensei moved over to Leo next.

"Still got that bag of sour gummy worms?" I whispered to Raph.

"Yeah."

"20 pieces says Leo makes it."

"You're on."

I glanced over at Leo, who had a look of pure concentration on his face. Suddenly, I saw the sword swing down, and Leo shifted to the side and back flipped out of the way.

"Yes!" he cheered.

I smirked as I turned to look at Raph. "You owe me some gummy worms, mister."

"Shut it," he muttered bitterly before looking up at Sensei. "What is the _point _of this anyway?"

"Evading a sword you cannot see demonstrates an ability to sense your enemy's intention," Sensei said as he held the sword at his side.

"I already know my enemy's intention, Sensei," said Raph. "To take me down."

"Knowing _that _your enemy will strike is a given," Sensei explained. "But sensing _when _he will strike can mean the difference between victory and defeat."

Raph looked at him for a moment before bowing his head. "Hai, Sensei."

We all bowed our heads as Sensei began walking away toward his room.

"And Raphael," Sensei called back, and we all looked up. "Whether it concerns money or sweets, you should think before you gamble."

I snorted into laughter as Raph stared at him, his jaw hanging open.

* * *

The next night, Leo decided to go out for another patrol. This time, we were searching for Dogpound and Fishface. After their surprise visit the other night, Leo wanted to know what else they were up to.

I brought up the rear as we continued running across rooftops and leaping to other buildings. We ran for a few blocks before Donnie, who was in the lead, skidded to a halt at a corner of a building.

"I got eyes on one giant dog and fish, 6 o'clock," said Donnie.

"Where?!" Mikey said excitedly as he ran up, then frowned. "Aw man, it's just Fishface and Dogpound."

"Who else would it be?" I asked him.

"What're they doing out in the open like this?" said Leo. "I think we should proceed with caution, guys. Guys…?"

I looked around to see that Leo and I were the only ones on the roof.

"What the-?" I turned my head and looked down into the street to see that the others were already fighting the mutants. "Of course…"

I sighed as I took out my kamas and leapt down, Leo following behind me. As soon as we landed he went to go help Mike and Donnie with Dogpound. I turned around to see that Raph was fighting Fishface alone.

"Now, where were we?" said Raph. "Oh yeah! I was turning you into fishsticks!"

"Actually, I believe _I_ was turning _you_ into turtle soup," Fishface sneered.

Raph ran forward, and Fishface aimed a kick at him. Raph blocked it and knocked the fish down. I heard a loud thud from behind me and I turned around to see Dogpound laying on the ground, Leo standing over him with his sword in the dog's face.

"Stay," he said. "Good dog."

Dogpound growled before shoving Leo's sword aside and getting up. He and Fisheface both started running off away from us and into the street.

"Look, we got 'em on the run!" said Mikey.

"Oh, they aren't getting off that easy!" Raph yelled before running after the two mutants.

"Raph, wait!" Leo called. "Something's not right!"

"Yeah, you talking while they're getting away!" Raph snapped.

Leo groaned irritably before following his brother. Hesitantly, the other two and I followed them.

* * *

"This way!"

We followed Raph into the center of the abandoned building that Fishface and Dogpound had led us to. We all stopped running and looked around. It was dark and it was quiet. Then, we heard someone speak.

"Alright," the voice of Dogpound drawled as he and Fishface stepped out from behind the corner. "You got us."

"This is way too easy," said Leo.

"Why are you always worried?" Raph said angrily.

Then, from below us, I saw what looked like bright red lasers on the ground that surrounded us and formed a huge circle around us and Dogpound and Fishface. The second the circle was made the floor we suddenly lowered beneath the floor level. I blinked and saw that the small walls around us were now black and white stripes going up the walls.

"Oh, I see," Raph said shortly.

"Careful, guys," said Mikey. "This may be a trap."

"You don't say," I said as I looked around.

"_Welcome, contestants," _a familiar voice suddenly sounded from unseen speakers. _"I'm so glad you could join us tonight."_

"Blister Stockboy?" said Leo.

"_It's Baxter Stockman! I'm your arch nemesis!"_

Mikey smirked as he winked at Donnie. "I could totally think of five nemeses way archer than him."

"What do you want, Stockman?" I said angrily.

"_Oh, I'm so glad you asked, Lavinia," _Stockman said in mock enthusiasm. _"You'll be playing for the ultimate prize; your lives! In the all new, family-friendly, incredibly deadly… Maze of Doom!"_

I raised my eyebrows. "That doesn't sound very family-friendly."

Then, from above, what looked like tiny fireballs started coming down on us.

"Scatter!" I shouted.

We all spit up and went wherever we could in the cramped space to avoid the fire. Then I heard a yell that wasn't from me or my brothers. I looked up to see Dogpound and Fishface dodging the balls as well.

"You fool!" sneered Fishface. "What're you doing?"

"_I'm sick of you freaks!" _Stockman sneered through the speakers. _"You treat me like dirt, threaten me… Well, Baxter Stockman doesn't make threats!"_

"Have you gone mad?" Fishface snapped.

"_Mad?"_ Stockman cackled loudly. _"I'm full-on mega crazy!"_

"You trader!" Dogpound yelled.

"_And even if you make it through my maze alive, you'll still have to face my… monster… of-"_

"Doom?" said Leo dully. "Is it a monster of doom?"

"_NO! Uh… Monster of, uh… uh… Oh, to heck with it!"_

Suddenly, the floor beneath us disappeared and we all began falling down. We all screamed and yelled as we through the tunnel, which was also colored it black and white. It was seriously trippy. But, the fall only lasted a few more seconds before I landed on something curved and hard. I rolled over several times before stopping on my stomach. I grasped my head as I sat myself up and I saw all of the others were all around me. I heard groaning and I looked down to see Raph lying next to me.

"Ugh… where…?"

But he was cut off as suddenly, Dogpound and Fishface landed a few feet away from us. They got up quickly, shaking their heads.

"Where were we?" Dogpound growled before running forward.

"Total turtle takedown!" said Fishface as he did the same.

At once, the fighting we had started in the street continued. The other three went to fight Dogpound while Raph and I took Fishface. Raph swung his sai at the fish, who dodged and tried to bite his arm. I reared up to his side and used the end of my kama to hit his head. He reached up and grabbed my wrist and twisted me around.

"I don't think so, girly," he sneered.

I grunted and shoved him off, knocking him back a few feet. Raph growled and lunged forward. But just as I was about to follow I heard a strange sound. Like lasers being powered up. I looked down one end of the black and white checkered hall and saw what looked like laser axes appearing, swinging from the roof.

"Raph!" I yelled warningly.

Raph looked up and gaped at the axes. Then, just as Fishface approached him for another strike, an axe appeared right above them.

"Watch out!" Raph yelled.

He suddenly leapt forward and pushed Fishface out of the way, and at the same time I leapt backwards to avoid injury. They both landed on the floor away from the axe and sat up.

"I saved you," Raph said incredulously, hardly able to believe himself. Then he rounded on Fishface. "Why, calamari-boy?!"

"Everyone," said Leo. "I suggest a fight raincheck."

"Never!" snapped Dogpound. "We do this _now_!"

But just then, another axe appeared, and I started coming right for Dogpound. Leo withdrew his hidden tanto and threw it up at the metal base of the laser axe. The blade stabbed it, and the axe vanished. Dogpound, who had been hunched over and covering his head, straightened up. The tip from one of his spike then popped off, having been sliced.

"If we keep fighting, we are never gonna get outta here alive!" Leo said firmly.

"The exit!" Donnie pointed down the tunnel like hall, where there was a bright light, as though from the outside. "There!"

"Follow me!" Dogpound shouted as he pushed past us, Fishface following behind him.

I frowned at him before the others and I ran after them. I ran from side to side, leaping over the laser blades as they swung back and forth. Then I stopped when an axe swung close by me, and Leo and Raph stopped beside me.

"Leo, you don't think we can trust them, do you?" Raph asked seriously.

"What choice do we have, Raph?" I said.

"She's right," said Leo. "It's our only option."

We stopped again as the axes swung dangerously in front of us, and we waited to see a pattern to go through.

"Well, what do we do if they turn on us?" Raph said fiercely. "Because, they _will _turn on us!"

Leo looked at his brother for a moment, then looked away. "We'll just have to trust that we'll see it coming first."

Leo leapt forward as soon as the axe passed by. Raph frowned at his brother and shook his head, looking almost disappointed.

* * *

After we got passed the axes, the walk through the tunnel was deadly quiet. Dogpound and Fishface walking in front of us while we trailed behind them. None of us said anything. What could we possibly say?

"I have my eye on you, turtles," Fishface sneered at us.

"Keep your fins to yourself, Flounder," I snapped threateningly.

Raph snorted and Fishface huffed as he turned back around. A second later we walked into another circular room. Dogpound stopped walking and sniffed the air.

"Fresh air," he said, and he nodded forward. "Coming from that direction."

At once we all stopped walking. Each of us looked at each other, good to bad.

"Eh, please," said Fishface. "After you."

"Oh no, no, you go ahead," Leo said, fake grinning. "I insist."

"What's the matter?" Fishface said, mocking being insulted. "You don't trust me?"

"If you think we're gonna turn our backs to you, you're nuts!" Raph said forcefully.

"I know!" Mikey piped up. "We go like this; dudette, turtle, turtle, jerk, turtle, turtle, jerk. Wait, no… Turtle, jerk, turtle, jerk, jerk- Nah, too many jerks…"

I saw something shine above me, and I looked up. There were several, small silver balls floating above us.

"Balls!" said Leo. "Of doom…"

"What're those?" said Dogpound.

Then, what appeared to be red, laser blades shot out of the balls, and they began spinning as they shot towards us.

"Not good!" said Leo. "Let's move it!"

"Me first!" said Fishlegs as he ran forward.

The balls shot down aimed to hit us. I took out my tessen and knocked one that was coming towards my face away.

"Doom balls!" Leo yelled. "Run!"

Without hesitation we all started running forward towards the exit, pushing and running past each other as though it were a race. I looked behind me and saw that the balls were all chasing us.

"Oh, crap!" I yelped.

From next to me, Raph suddenly turned around and threw a bunch of shuriken. They hit the balls, which then exploded on contact. The explosion shook the area, and we all tumbling through the exit over each other. I slid off of Leo's shell and stood up. I heard Donnie yelp and I looked to see a single, remaining ball embedded in his staff. He gingerly pried it off the staff and tossed it away. Everyone got back onto their feet, and we continued on.

We were all exhausted as we walked through the checkered tunnel. Who knew that a few sliver balls could wear someone out? To add insult to injury, it felt as though we had been walking for hours none stop. It had to at least be midnight by now.

Then, halfway down the tunnel, Dogpound sniffed the air.

"Wait… We've been here before!" he said.

I gaped. "What?"

"He's right," said Donnie, who appeared to be examining the floor. "We've been going in circles!"

"Donnie, are you sure-?"

But Raph was cut off as a large silver door suddenly shot down between us. I yelped in surprise, tripping back and falling against Raph's legs. Raph ran forward and started banging on the door.

"HEY!"

"_Time to split you boys up!" _Stockman said cheerfully.

"Oy!" I snapped. "Member of the female race here!"

But Stockman merely laughed before the speakers went quiet. I groaned as I stood up and dusted myself off. I heard Fishface chuckle darkly, and I looked up to see him smirking at Raph, who was glaring at him with hatred.

"Hmm… Looks like it's just you, me, and your pretty, little sister."

I stomped over to him. "I am _not_ in the mood for you, Fish-Sticks!" I sighed. "C'mon. We gotta find a way back to the others so we can get out of here."

Turning away from the still smirking fish, I started to walk forward down the hall, back from wence we came in the first place. I glance behind me to see that Raph and Fishlegs hadn't moved. They were standing still, staring at each other.

"Guys," I said impatiently.

They both looked at me, then back at each other. Then, after a moment, they started to follow me.

* * *

**Raph's P.O.V.**

Man, could this day get any worse? It was bad enough that I had to keep myself from kicking some serious butt, now I'm stuck with Fishface? Well, at least I got Nia with me. I guess that a good and a bad thing. Personally, I didn't want Fishface anywhere near her. I still remember the way he looked at her the first time we fought. It made me so angry.

We were walking in silence, Nia walking between me and Fishface. I think maybe she was trying to keep us from swinging at each other so we could focus on getting out. Honestly, I think I can afford to give a few swings, maybe more.

"So," said Fishface. "You're supposed to be the angel of the group, eh?"

I looked over and glared at Fishface. What was he up to? Nia looked over at him, eyebrows slightly raised.

"Guess my reputation precedes me," she muttered. "Yeah, I guess. What of it?"

"Oh, nothing. You just seem more like a hellcat, that's all."

"Oh, so now I'm a hellcat?" Nia stopped walking and shoved a finger up to his face. "Lay a finger on any of my bros, and I'll show you what a hellcat looks like."

I smirked. That's one of the things I liked about Nia. 99 percent of the time, she was the sweetest person on the planet. But, when it came to the people she cared about, she was super protective. That's one of the reasons why she was so aggressive whenever we were all in a fight with the Kraang or the Foot. I didn't mind. She had to do what she knew was right; another thing I liked about her.

Fishface snorted and turned away as we all started walking again.

"Nice hair accessory, by the way," he sneered. "Where'd you steal a thing like that?"

Nia glared at him, her hand unconsciously moving up to touch the feather she had been wearing in her right ponytail. She'd been wearing that in her hair ever since the night she got saved by that mysterious mutant it came from.

"Now you're calling me a thief?" she said waspishly. "No, I didn't steal it. It got it from a… friend."

"Oh, so you actually have friends?" Fishface said sarcastically. "Oh, and here, I was thinking that you were as pathetic as the reptiles."

"Hey!" she said angrily.

I felt my hands into tight fists. This jerk was getting on Nia's nerves, now he was getting on mine. I reached up and put a hand on Nia's shoulder.

"Nia, why don't you go ahead," I said. "Go see if there's like a trap door or something. There's gotta something around here, you go check it out."

The second she turned away from Fishface her eyes softened, and she nodded.

"Yeah, alright."

Without another word she ran ahead of us and started looking around. I took this opportunity to stomp over to Fishface.

"Look, you piece of tuna," I growled. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but knock it off! You hate us, we hate you, so let's just get this all over with and done. And if you keep buggin' Nia like that, I'm gonna slice you up so much, I'll need to start selling fishsticks! Got it?"

Maybe I'm overreacting a little, but this guy really knew how to get under my shell and I hated it. Fishface rolled his eyes at me.

"Sure thing, boy."

I glared at him for a few moments before I turned and started to walk. He walked beside me, and I could feel his eyes on me. I ignored it as I looked ahead to watch Nia, who was still far ahead now.

"Tell me something, turtle," said Fishface. "Why are _you _so protective over the girl?"

I looked over at him. "What're you talking about? I'm no different than my brothers."

"Yes, you are. Now, your brothers have all shown their protectiveness over her by now. They're protective alright, but not like you. You're far more aggressive and determined."

"I'm always like that."

"Not when you're around her," said Fishface. "She seems to be the only one you get along with half of the time."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What're you getting at, you sushi reject?"

Fishface shook his head. "I'm saying that when it comes to the girl, you're different than your brothers," he said. "In fact, I don't think I've ever heard you call her your sister."

I shook my head. "That doesn't matter. I don't need to say it."

"It's still strange that you've never said it," he paused for a moment. "You know, if I didn't know any better… I'd say you had a thing for her."

I suddenly stopped walking. My feet seemed frozen where they were, my knees locked. My hands clenched into fists so tight it felt like iron fingers were pressing deep into my palm. Fishface stopped when he realized I stopped walking and looked at me with actual surprise.

"What?"

My fists tightened as I glared at Fishlegs, but I didn't say anything. For what felt like the first time in my life, I was speechless. Fishface gaped at me.

"No..." he said. "You? Really?"

I blinked, and suddenly I had feeling in my limbs again. I scowled at the fish before I started walking again. Fishface caught up to me and stared at me, but I kept my eyes forward.

"Oy, it all makes sense. And I was only joking too."

"You're crazy," I grumbled.

"I knew that already," I could feel him smirking at me. "Well, I must say, I'm surprised."

"Shut up."

"I mean, if anything I would've expected this from Leonardo, maybe even Michelangelo, but not you."

"Zip it, Fish-Sticks."

"Alright, fine," he said airily. "But, I am right, you know?"

"You think so, huh?"

Fishface stopped walking, and I stopped too.

"No, I _know_ so," he said.

"Oh yeah?" I smirked as I folded my arms. "What makes you so sure?"

He smirked. "Because, you still haven't denied it."

My smirk fell and my jaw dropped. Fishface chuckled as he smirked widely at me, chuckling darkly. I blinked before I growled and stomped forward.

"You little-!"

"Are you guys on a date back there?" Nia yelled out, and we turned to see her further away than she had been previously. "C'mon, there's nothing here! We just gotta keep walking!"

She folded her arms as she turned and started to walk. Fishface and I looked at each other, me glaring and him smirking. He snickered before he started walking forward, and I glared at the back of his scaly head before following him. I sighed lowly. I swore that I would never forgive myself for letting this slip. Because the thing I was most angry about now was the single, undeniable fact:

Fishface was right. I didn't deny it.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

We've been walking around for a while now. After I couldn't find any trap doors or anything I decided all we could do was keep walking. Raph and Fishface were kind of quiet afterward. I think it might've had to do with whatever they were arguing about earlier. I don't know what they said, but every time I looked at Raph I would see him glaring at Fishface. They didn't break out into any fights, so I wasn't complaining yet.

"Ugh, the world's longest tunnel," Raph groaned. "Of _doom_…!"

I chuckled and Fishface snickered. Suddenly, another black and white striped wall came down up ahead, blocking our path. I gasped as we stopped walking.

"We're trapped!" said Raph.

Then, the wall made a loud sound as though it were powering up, and it slowly started to spin like a fan. Except, instead of blowing like a fan, the thing seemed to be sucking us in. As the fan got faster the wind started becoming more forceful, and I felt my feet start to slide across the floor. I picked my feet up as I tried to step back, and Raph grunted as he tried to do the same. Fishface, whose robotic feet seemed to be attached to the floor, didn't move. A white tile from the tunnel wall was peeled off and went zooming down to the fan. It reached the fan and was shredded into a million pieces.

"Raph, what do we do?" I said.

"I don't know!"

The fan just continued to get faster and the wind stronger. Then, I yelped when I felt my feet start to lift off the floor. Raph made a feeble attempt to grab the floor before he was suddenly lifted and carried off, and I followed soon after. We both yelled as we were carried off down the tunnel and headed to the fan. I squeaked in fright as I covered my face as I neared the fan, waiting to be shredded.

I yelped when I suddenly felt something grab my wrist and I stopped moving. I opened my eyes and looked up. Raph holding my wrist tightly, and as I looked up I saw Fishface standing upside down, his feet attached to the ceiling, holding Raph's ankle. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but stare in shock and amazement. Fishface then detected his robotic feet and dove down, pointing one of his feet down. When he landed on the ground he busted through the floor and we all fell beneath the level. I felt Raph release me as we landed in the dark, lower level.

"Are you guys all right?" I asked as I stood up.

"Yeah, we're good," said Raph as he and Fishface stood up, and he turned to face the mutant. "Well, that's makes us even, huh, Fish-Sticks?"

"You think I'd let _Baxter _do away with you two? Humph!" Fishface snorted. "That is a pleasure I am reserving for myself."

He straightened up and started to walk away. I looked over at Raph and shrugged.

"I guess that's his way of saying 'you're welcome'?"

Raph rolled his eyes, and he and I caught up with Fishface.

* * *

This lower level was really weird. Even though it was all black and there were no lights, I could still see perfectly clear. I was sure that the other two could see just fine because they never complained about it. In fact, they didn't really say much. After a while of walking though, Raph finally spoke up.

"Tell me, Xever," said Raph. "What's a nice fish like you doing with a guy like Shredder?"

"Yeah," I said. "How'd you get mixed up with him anyway?"

Fishface turned and looked at us. For a moment I thought he was going to tell us to mind our own business. Then, to my surprise, he sighed and started talking.

"Eh… In many ways, it's all I've ever known," he started. "It's been that way ever since I was a boy. At a young age, I learned a very simple rule; you want something, you take it."

"Not the best piece of advice for a kid," I said shortly.

"Everyone's got to make a living," said Fishface. "And boy, did I make one. I was the best thief, until one day, my luck ran out."

"What happened?" asked Raph.

"I was trying to steal a briefcase, one that I knew had items I could sell for a lot of money. Unfortunately, I was careless and got arrested. They would've left me to rot there! Fortunately, the owner of that briefcase found my skills… useful."

I frowned. "Let me guess…"

"Shredder," said Raph.

"Yes, and he employed me for many of the Foot's… dirtier jobs," Fishface looked over at us. "Most recently, the destruction of you two, your brothers, and your sensei."

"So, you do all this because you owe Shredder?" Raph asked, looking genuinely shocked.

"Dude, I never thought I'd feel sorry for you," I told him.

"Eh, it's not so bad," Fishface shrugged. "Besides, I like cutting a job where I get to crack skulls every day."

"Okay," said Raph. "I can relate to that."

"Yes… we are of a kind, you and I."

"Maybe…" Raph punched a fist into his palm. "But we're still gonna whip your butt when this is over!"

"Yeah, you're not getting off that easy," I added.

Fishface chuckled. "We shall see, children. We shall see."

Raph and I glared at him slightly before looking forward. We walked for a few more minutes in silence before we heard a distant yell.

"Skunkman! I know you're in here somewhere!"

"That's Bradford!" I said.

Fishface walked forward a bit before lifting his hand and pressing them to the wall. He put his ear to the wall and gasped.

"Hey! It's coming from the next room!"

He stepped back and quickly kicked the wall with his leg. There was a loud bang and dust appeared. When it cleared I saw that there was a hole in the wall, and on the other side were Leo, Donnie, Mikey and Dogpound.

"Guys!" I said happily.

"You three enjoy your playdate?" Leo said, smirking.

"Very funny," Raph grumbled.

"A strong ambient a/c current is coming from underneath this cannon," said Donnie, who was looking at his T-Phone as he kneeled beside a cannon on the floor.

Dogpound reached over and ripped the cannon out. We all crowded around the opening and looked down, seeing nothing but black. A second later the floor gave way and we fell through, again.

I fell down until I finally landed in a heap on the floor below me. I heard loud thumps as the others fell down around me. I pushed myself up and got up to my feet, and so did they. I looked around and saw that we were back in the abandoned building we were in before. Suddenly, lights flashed on, and I turned around. It was Stockman, standing on what looked like a giant pad, and he was pissed.

"No!" he cried. "You were supposed to destroy each other, not work together!" he sighed. "No matter. You may have made it to the end of my maze, but now it's time for-"

"The bonus round?" Mikey asked excitedly.

Stockman smirked. "Yes, the bonus round… OF DOOM!"

Then a large, very familiar suit of armor came stomping out towards us from the other side of the room. It was the same suit Stockman had from when he was the Stockman-Pod. Somehow, he was able to get it working again, and was now controlling at his will.

"Kneel before the awesome power of my… Monster…!"

"Of doom…" we all groaned in unison.

"You all think you're so clever," Stockman said, his face appearing on a screen on the suit where his head would be. "Let's see how clever you are when you're hit by my missiles of do-… When you're hit by my missiles!"

The robot aimed one of its arms out at us and started firing missiles at us. We scattered and ran off. A missile came at me, but I did a frontflip and avoided it. Then, what looked like more missiles shot out from the monster's back. It wasn't until I heard loud screeching that I realized that they were actually Mousers.

"Not these buggers, again!" I yelled in annoyance as I took out my kamas.

A Mouser landed right in front of me and screeched as it ran at me. I kicked it up into the air and when it came down I sliced it in half. I looked around to see another one coming at me, and I threw my kama so that it went into the thing's head. As I took the kama back I looked up to see that Leo had leapt up and shoved one of his katanas into the screen on the robot. He leapt down, taking his katana with him. On the broken screen, Stockman glared down at us. Then, the robot powered up and suddenly sent a powerful shockwave all around the room, causing us to all fall back off our feet.

"How do we stop this thing?" Dogpound shouted.

"Leo, we could really use a plan," I said as I stood up.

Leo got up to his feet and looked around. I could tell by the look in his eye that he had a plan forming in his head.

"Mikey, Dogpound," he said quickly. "Draw it under Baxter!"

They both nodded and made a run for Stockman. The man in question must have assumed that they were trying to attack him, and simply made his hover pad lift up out of their reach.

"Ha, nice try!" he jeered. "But you'll have to be faster than that!"

I could see both Mikey and Dogpound smirking at one another before turning around.

"Yoo-hoo!" Mikey called out. "Monster of doom! We're over here!"

The monster turned around and instantly sprinted for them.

"Raph, Fishface!" Leo yelled. "There!"

I looked to see both Raph and Fishface running towards the monster, which was now underneath Stockman's hover pad. Halfway there, Fishface flipped onto his back with his robotic feet up, and Raph leapt up and landed on his feet.

"Ready?"

"3. 2. 1!"

Fishface pushed Raph up into the air with his robotic legs. Raph yelled as he lifted his sais and shot up to the hover pad, stabbing through it and busting through the other side.

"No! Stop helping each other!" Stockman yelled.

His pad started diving down, and soon it crashed right into his monster. There was a loud _boom _as the collision caused an explosion. I covered my face with my arms as I waited for the smoke to subside. I looked up and saw that there was nothing left but the metal remains of both pad and robot.

"Where's Dexter?" said Mikey.

"Fools!"

We all looked up. Stockman was hovering in the air, wearing a helmet that appeared to have helicopter-like wing on them.

"You haven't seen the last of Dexter-" he shook his head. "Ugh! Baxter Stockman!"

And he turned away and flew out of a window, and out of sight.

* * *

Dogpound lifted the large garage doors before we all fell through and landed on our knees into the street. We all sighed and panted with exhaustion.

"The truce… is over…" Fishface panted.

"Let's finish… ugh, this," Dogpound grunted as he stood up.

I forced myself to my feet as I took out my kamas, but there was not want or enthusiasum. Now that we had calmed down my adrenaline rush had faded, and I had no energy left in me.

"Booyaka…" Mikey muttered, but he then fell to his knees and let out a loud yawn.

"Oh, forget it," Dogpound groaned. "Next time."

He and Fishface turned around and began walking away.

"Thank God," I sighed as I put my kamas back in my belt. "I'm so tired I can't feel my knees."

"Dito," Donnie yawned sleepily.

We all sheathed our weapons and slowly turned around and walked the other way.

"You know, Raph, you and Fishface actually made a pretty good team back there," said Mikey.

"You did work well together," I said simply.

"Maybe," said Raph. "But he's still our enemy, and he'll take us out the first chance he gets."

No sooner had he spoken then a soft whizzing sound rang though the alley. I turned my head and caught a flash of metal before Raph suddenly lunged his sai up and stabbed the object, stopping it in its path. I blinked and leaned over. It was one of the doom balls that had attacked us earlier, and it was now less than an inch from Leo's head. I snapped my head down the other end of the alley and saw that Fishface had stopped and was looking at us.

"You sneaky bastard…"

I could've sworn I heard him chuckle.

"Trust your senses," said Raph. "You'll see him coming."

Fishface smirked at him before finally turning away. I glared at him before turning away and walking up next to Raph.

"By the way," I said. "What were you and Fishface arguing about earlier?"

"What?"

"You know, after we got separated. I went ahead and you and Fishface stayed back. It looked like you were fighting over something."

For the briefest moment, I thought I saw Raph's eyes widened in shock. But then he shook his head as he shrugged.

"Just a Nemo-reject trying get under my shell, no biggie."

I raised my eyebrow slightly, but shrugged. "Alright, then."

But even as we continued down the street until we finally got home, I couldn't shake the feeling that Raph hadn't been completely honest with me.


	26. Mutants Come Out at Night

**Guys, first I'd like to say that I am sooo sorry! I had no idea that it was gonna be this long before I posted ANYTHING for my stories! College takes up a lot of time, I still need to figure out how I'm gonna continue to write when I can't even pause to think for a moment. Like I mentioned in my note before, I've already written 5 essays and several Journals for my classes, and I'm still a little behind. But, I'm here now, and I've got a little something sweet for you all this Halloween!**

**But! Before we begin, I have an announcement! About a week or so ago, I got a message from somebody. They had read my story 'Hicca and Her Dragon', and they suggested that I enter the Fandom Contest on ! I was so excited that I signed up and entered my story! The contest ends on October 21st, so if you wanna show some support, go to and look me up. I'm still kind of new to the site, so I hope I did it right. I signed in using my facebook account, so you wont find it under 'Heart of the Night Fury' if you look up my story you should be able to find it.**

**Alright, let's get down to business! Grab a chair and get your Pumpkin Spice Lattes! It's time for some Turtles!**

* * *

Ch. 21  
Mutants Come Out at Night

For the first time in ages we had nothing to do; no training, to patrol, no Kraang stalking. We were 100 percent free for an entire night! Now, don't get me wrong, we get nights off of training and everything, but those nights are always taken up by Leo and our patrols. But now? Oh, now things were going to get awesome! Especially with the plan that Raph and I had in mind.

"Dudes, how much further?" Mikey called from the back.

"Not far!" I called back.

"Where're we even going?" asked Donnie.

"You'll know when we get there!" Raph snapped.

I rolled my eyes as I ran fast to stay level with Raph, but not get in front of him. Raph knew the way a little more than me, so I wanted to make sure I didn't take a wrong turn. We were at the outskirts of town by now and the sun was just barely visible over the horizon; it was almost completely night.

Finally, after about 10 minutes Raph finally came to a stop at the rusty gate and I stopped next to him. I looked past the gate and up at the abandoned industrial park. Smaller buildings surrounding something that looked like it might have been a factory at one point. Most of the buildings were in need of renovation, but they didn't need to look pretty for us. I heard footsteps as the others caught up with us and slowly stopped running. Raph and I turned around, and I could feel myself smiling.

"What is this place?" Leo asked.

"Surprise!" I said enthusiastically.

"What do you guys think?" said Raph as he folded his arms. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Raph and I found it when we split up into groups for patrol last week," I said, putting my hands in my hoodie pockets. "We thought it looked cool, so we checked it out. The place is huge and it's got tones of hiding places and upper levels."

"Nia did some research on the place," said Raph. "This whole area's been abandoned for almost 20 years, and no one ever comes out here."

"Guys, this place is just sitting here waiting to be used," I said excitedly. "It's like a ninja theme park just for us!"

Now that they understood and got a good look at the place, all three boys gazed up at the abandoned area in amazement, their jaws hanging open.

"Whoa! Cooleo, bro!" Mikey said happily as he ran up to the fence.

I giggled. "C'mon, come take a closer look!"

I backed up a few feet before sprinting forward and leaping up into the air, doing a front flip before landing on my feet on the other side. I stood up and turned around to look at the others. Mikey and Raph followed me, then Donnie, and then Leo.

"So," said Donnie. "What specifically did you two bring us out here for? Training?"

At this both Raph and I burst into laughter.

"What?"

"Dude!" Raph gasped. "If we wanted to find a spot for training, we would've stayed home and asked Leo to do it!"

I covered my mouth as I looked at the small glare on Leo's face.

"Very funny, Raph," he said. "So, why did you bring us out here then?"

"Simple," I said. "It's our day off, we have no patrol, so we're here to have fun."

"Awesome!" said Mikey.

I smiled at him. Then, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small piece of yellow cloth.

"You guys remember that game we used to play as kids?" I asked. "Ninja Tag?"

Ninja Tag was basically a crossover between Tag and Capture the Flag with a little ninja flare to it. The rules were one person would have a cloth tied on their wrist, and then they would get 30 seconds to go hide. Then, the other players had to find the person and get the cloth. There's no time limit, so the game could go on for hours. I think the record goes to Raph for 20 minutes. At least, that's what I remember.

"We remember," said Donnie. "So?"

"So, I think we now have ourselves a new playing field."

Donnie's eyes widened, Mikey squealed with excitement, and Leo smiled. I grinned as reached up and tied the cloth to my right wrist.

"You're going first?" asked Leo.

"Yep," I said. "Okay, set your clocks, boys. Time starts… NOW!"

I did a backflip over Raph and instantly began sprinting towards the buildings. _1… 2… 3… 4… _I glanced back for half a second to see the boys staring at me. I laughed before turning the corner and out of their sight. _6… 7… 8… 9… _I continued running as I looked around me. I had to find a good spot for now, a place that wouldn't be too obvious. _12… 13… 14… 15 more seconds… _I turned right and found what looked like a water tower with a gaging hole in the side. I ran up to the support beams and started climbing. When I got to the ledge I looked inside. The tower was bone dry. _21… 22… 23… 24… _I quickly leapt inside and flattened myself against the metal wall. This should be good to start off with. _27… 28… 29…_

"30…" I whispered softly.

In the distance I heard Raph yell out, "We're comin' for yah, Nia!"

I smirked to myself as I waited for the boys to discover me, and I would go find a new hiding spot.

* * *

My hiding spot in the water tower lasted for a good five minutes before the boys got a little too close for comfort. As soon as I had the opportunity I left the tower and ran for the nearest building. It was dark and all of the windows were broken with a few of them boarded up with wood. I found a ladder to the upper level and as soon as I got up there I leapt up to the beams across the ceiling. Now I sat there, crouched like a cat, remaining silent. _Good job, Nia, _I told myself.

I sat there for what felt like only a few minutes however before the door below burst open. I peered down through the darkness. It was Donnie. I smirked. This was going to be easy.

I stayed still for a moment as Donnie slowly walked under me, holding his T-Phone up as a source of light. As he passed under me I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled out a throwing star. I looked around and saw a window at the lower level that wasn't boarded up. I closed one eye and took careful aim. If I missed, I'd give myself away. I exhaled the breath I had been holding and gave a small flick. The star flew forward and went straight through the window. A second later there was a small crash and a cat squalled. I looked down at Donnie and saw him whip his head around before running back through the door and back outside. I giggled to myself.

"Nia, you are a genius," I muttered.

Even as I spoke I suddenly heard a loud thud from behind me. I whipped around, careful not to fall. Through the dark I saw a dark figure sitting on a beam several feet away from me.

"Oh, crap!"

Still crouched, I got to my feet and quickly but carefully ran across the beam and towards the wall. The beam suddenly vibrated, and I turned around to see the figure was now on the beam with me. I smirked.

"I don't think so, dude!"

I turned around and suddenly leapt down, diving through one of the broken windows. My kneepads skidded as I landed on the ground outside.

"HA!"

I gasped and turned around and saw Raph standing across from me, a smirk on his face. Was he the one who found me?

I wasted no time in getting up and sprinting off. I could hear Raph laughing right behind me; I knew he was running after me. I made my decision and quickly turned right, skidding slightly. I looked over my shoulder and saw that Raph hadn't reached the corner yet. I was just able to make a left turn when I heard him skid in the same place I had.

"Oh, man," I muttered worriedly.

I looked around, trying to find a place to hide. Then, just ahead of me, I saw a building that looked something like a barn. I quickly ran up to it and leapt up, grabbing the edge of the roof and pulling myself. I climbed up carefully until I was at the top and I crouched down. I glanced down as I saw Raph suddenly appear and run into the building. I had to cover my mouth to suppress my giggles.

About five minutes later Raph came bursting out of the building. Even from here I could tell that he was peeved that he didn't find me. I sat patiently as he stormed off and out of sight. I snorted as I sat up, crossing my legs together.

"This is just too easy."

I folded my arms as I sat there and waited for a moment. _Thump! _I straightened up and whipped around. There was a dark hunched over figure at the other end of the roof. It was too dark to see them properly, but I knew it had to be one of the boys. I rolled my eyes as I got to my feet.

"Alright, Raph," I said. "You got me."

The figure didn't speak. They just sat there, still hunched over. Now that was weird. Usually Raph would make some snarky remark at being the first to find me, then gloat about how he got me. Maybe it was one of the others?

"Okay Mikey, you win. You found me and made me think you were Raph. Now that's impressive."

Still nothing. I stared in disbelief. Okay, now I know something's up. Mikey definitely would have said something by now.

"Donnie, is it you?" I asked quietly.

Silence. The figure suddenly stood up to their full height. This person was tall, but I knew that Donnie was at least an inch or two taller.

"Leo…?"

At that moment, the figure slowly started to walk towards me, and in the dim light of the moon, I thought I could see that they were covered in what appeared to be a mass of white and purple. The figure shifted, and its head seemed to raise up as two bright purple eyes stared back at me. I gasped. I had seen those eyes before. I took a step back, but the back of my heel met nothing but air as it went slightly over the edge.

"Hey!"

I turned my gaze away from the purple eye to look down behind me. There below was Leo. He was looking up at me, hands on his hips, an amused look on his face.

"You're usually better at hiding than this, Nia," he said. "I gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed."

I blinked as I stared down at him. Then, from behind me I heard a loud _swoosh_, and I whipped around. The figure was gone. Ignoring Leo calling from below, I continued to stare at the spot where the figure had been. Unconsciously, I lifted my hand and touched the purple and white feather in my right low pony. Suddenly, I saw something leap up and land right in front of me. It was Leo.

"Gotcha!"

I blinked and instantly turned on my heel and leapt off the edge. I landed on my feet on the ground and started sprinting away.

"You won't get away that fast, Nia!"

But, even after being snapped out of my trance, I wasn't in the mood to call back. And after seeing those piercing purple eyes, I was beginning to wonder whether the creature that had saved me weeks ago was the same thing that I had caught watching me before.

* * *

Meditation. I wasn't obsessed with it the way Leo was, and I didn't hate it the way Raph did. I was somewhere in the middle on that scale, and I had a genuine respect for it. It did help me relax, especially when listening to my music and playing my guitar didn't help. But, unfortunately, not even meditation could help me relax today. I just couldn't get my mind off that damn mutant. _Come on, Nia, _I told myself. _Your session is almost over, try to finish off right._

"You are not focused, Lavinia."

I sighed as I opened my eyes, finally giving up.

"I know," I said sadly. "Sorry, Sensei."

"My daughter, you've been increasingly distracted in all of your sessions as of late," he stroked his beard. "Though, I can sense that this time, you are justified. What troubles you?"

"Well…" I paused and bit my lip for a moment. "Well, Sensei, do you remember a few weeks ago when we snuck into TCRI? The night we lost Leatherhead? Remember that creature or mutant I told you about that saved me?"

Sensei nodded.

"Well, I think I saw it again last night, at the abandoned area we were at."

"Did you?"

"Yes. We were playing Ninja Tag, and I was hiding from the boys first. I ended up on the roof of this small building, and… someone was there. At first I thought it was one of the guys, but… Sensei, the thing was covered in feathers, just like this one," I gestured to the feather in my hair. "And its eyes looked just like the ones I had seen watching me."

"You have seen this creature before?" Sensei asked. "Even before the incident at TCRI?"

"Well, not up close," I said. "It was the night we first met Mr. Murikami. We were leaving and heading home, but I could feel someone watching me. I saw those same eyes on the roof of his shop, and they were looking right at me. I turned away for 5 seconds to tell the guys, but when I looked back it was gone."

Sensei placed a finger under his chin. "And you believe that the creature that saved you is the same one that was watching you?"

I thought for a moment before saying, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Hmm… It is possible that this is a new mutant," he said. "And one who doesn't seem a custom to this area or to you. It is also possible that this new mutant is afraid. He or she might be trying to seek the help of any other people or mutants."

I gaped at him. I hadn't thought of that. This creature might be some poor kid that got mutated and needs help!

"Well, what should I do?"

"If this creature is a mutant searching for help, then we must help them," said Sensei. "But, be cautious. We do not yet know this mutant's intent, you must be careful."

I nodded. "Thanks, Sensei."

With that, I stood up and slowly walked out of the dojo, Sensei's words still running through my head. If what he said is true and this mutant needed our help, then we had to go help them.

"Hey, Nia."

I turned around to see Donnie poking his head out of his lab.

"Hey, Donnie. What's up?"

"I got some news about your savior from a few weeks ago," he said. "Get in here."

I rushed over and went through the lab doors. Donnie was already sitting by his desk in front of his computer.

"What did yah find out?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"I ran a few tests on your new accessory," he said as he started typing on his computer. "I've been able to look at it and- Oh, not again."

I looked at Donnie, and saw he had a slightly sad look on his face. I leaned over and looked at the computer screen. Over his notes there appeared to be a smaller tab up with a message on it.

"What is it?"

"It's another amber alert," Donnie said lowly.

"Another?"

"Yeah, there's been a few these past few weeks," he said. "Last Friday I was looking to see if there were any recent Kraang sightings, and one just popped up."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…" Donnie sighed. "Well, nothing we can do right now."

Donnie turned away to look at his computer, and I leaned over to look at the little tab. I managed to read the words 'door was locked' and 'no sign of a struggle' before Donnie exited the tab.

"Anyway, I've managed to find out the DNA on that feather of yours," Donnie said. "And I was right, it is the feather of an albino Barn Owl."

"That's a pretty big owl," I said as I looked down at my feather.

"Exactly," he said. "Which is why owl DNA isn't all that I found. I also found traces of human DNA mixed with the owl."

"So, we were right," I said. "It was a mutant."

"Yeah, and if I had to guess it's probably residing somewhere near that abandoned area we were at last night."

I folded my arms as I stared off into space. I could feel my brows crease. There was a mutant out there that was probably alone and scared, and he or she needed our help.

"What are you thinking?" Donnie asked.

"I'm thinking we need to tell the others about this," I said. "There's a mutant out there who needs us, and we're gonna help them."

* * *

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Nia?" Leo asked. "What if it's not friendly?"

"If they weren't friendly, then they wouldn't have saved me," I told him. "I'll be fine, Leo. I promise."

We were all inside the Shellraiser, which was currently parked just outside the fence of the abandoned industrial park we were at the previous night. We had already come up with a plan. Since the mutant seemed to only want me to see them for now, I would be the one to go in and find them. Then, when I found them, I would tell them that I was here to help them and then I would take them to the Shellraiser.

"I still think you should be stealthy about this," Leo told me. "Why are you just marching in there?"

"Whoever's in there probably needs our help," I explained. "But it's too shy or scared to come right out. If I go in there and sneak around, then it'll look like I'm trying to spy on it or something. I want it to know that we're here to help."

"You got your earpiece, right?" Donnie asked.

"Yep," I said, tapping the device that was shoved into my right ear. "Is the camera on, too?"

"We're rolling," Donnie said as he looked at his computer screen and then picked up what looked like a small microphone. "As long as you have it on, we'll be able to see and hear everything."

Then, Mikey leapt up next to Donnie and leaned in towards the microphone. "Does it work?" he said loudly.

I yelped as his voice pierced painfully through my ears.

"OW! Yes!" I snapped, as I glared at him.

"Oops. Hehe, sorry Nia."

Donnie rolled his eyes as he shoved Mikey off of him and onto the floor.

"You shouldn't go out there on your own," said Raph. "What if this thing wants to hurt you for some reason?"

"If it wanted to hurt me, it would've done so last night," I said. "And it wouldn't have saved me at TCRI. Besides, this thing has only revealed itself to me. If one of you guys comes with me it might not show. I got this."

"We're ready to go," said Donnie.

"Alright, Nia," said Leo. "You're up, but be careful."

"Yes, mother."

Leo chuckled slightly and I grinned at him before opening the doors. It was very dark out. They sky outside was a deep midnight blue, and the remains of the sunset resided in the west. I stepped out and the doors closed behind me. Without hesitation or fear I marched up to the gate and leapt over it just as I did the previous night. I straightened up and looked around. So far it was all quiet.

"Can you guys hear me?" I asked as I pressed my hand to my right ear.

"_Loud and clear,"_ said Leo.

"_I've got the camera set on night vision, so we'll be able to see everything,"_ said Donnie. _"But, you might wanna use the flashlight on your T-Phone."_

"Right," I said.

I took out my phone and turned on the flashlight. I pointed it in front of me as I started to walk forward, looking around as I passed the small buildings.

"It's pretty quiet out here guys," I said lowly.

I walked around the corner of a building when suddenly, one of them gasped.

"_Nia, on your left!" _said Mikey.

I whipped my head around to my left, expecting to see something coming at me. But, there was nothing.

"_In the building ahead of you," _Mikey said hurriedly. _"Dude, I swear I saw something go in there!"_

I slowly walked closer and raised my flashlight, and I recognized it as the building where I hid up by the beams. As I thought back, I had a feeling that the figure I had met in there was the mutant I was currently looking for.

"I'm going in."

"_Be careful, Nia," _Leo warned me.

Cautiously, I pressed my hand to the door and pushed it open. It leaned open with a soft creaking sound before stopping. I leaned in the doorway slightly and looked around, flashing my light where I looked. So far, nothing. I slowly walked past the threshold into the room.

"You guys see anything?" I whispered under my breath.

"_No, not yet, I…" _

Donnie's voice trailed off for a moment and I suddenly stopped walking. What was wrong?

"Donnie, you there?"

"_Nia,"_ Donnie whispered._ "There's something above you. It's hiding on the beams."_

Slowly, my eyes trailed up towards the beams above me. Even through the darkness, I could see what looked like a large figure sitting crouched on one of the beams. I turned off my flashlight and put my phone in my pocket, not taking my eyes off the figure.

"Hello?" I called up softly. "Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you."

The figure didn't move. But its eyes suddenly appeared. Bright purple irises stared down at me, and I had to resist the urge to step back.

"I wanna help you. Please, come down."

The figure then stood up on the beams, their eyes not leaving mine. Then, they quickly but gently leapt off and landed on their feet on the ground.

"_Easy, Nia," _Raph's voice said calmly.

The figure straightened up and looked at me, and I looked at them, forcing myself to stare into those purple eyes, not yet knowing whether they were friend or foe. Then, after a moment, the being cleared their throat.

"Erm… you can turn your flashlight back on. I know it must be very dark in here for you."

_It's a girl… _I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, turning the light on in the process. I didn't shine it directly at them, and instead set it on the ground, the light facing up. After I straightened up I looked forward.

I knew that this mutant would be an owl, but I was still surprised by what I saw. She was- there was no other way to say it- beautiful. She was covered from head to foot in pure white feathers with deep purple tips. The wings folded behind her were large in comparison to her body, and they were white and purple, too. She appeared to have human arms and legs, but they were covered with white feathers and dotted with purple, and the nails on her hands and feet seemed to be replaced with black talons. Her face appeared to be mostly human shaped, except it was rounder, like an owl's, and covered with white feathers. Her mouth looked to be a cross between an owl's beak and human's lips, spreading wide enough so that I could see the small frown on her face. She appeared to have long, snow white hair that reached all the way down to her backside. But her eyes were what stunned me the most. They were huge, and were a bright, deep shade of purple with flecks of gold in them. She was dressed in a long, black skirt that stopped halfway down her calves, a long slit going up the right side, and she had what looked like a large piece of purple cloth that was tied around her chest.

For a few minutes I looked at her, but she didn't look at me. She had her arms folded and was staring at the ground. From my earpiece I could hear the others whispering.

"_Wow."_

"_Well, I'll be…"_

"_Dang."_

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at their reactions. The mutant girl finally looked up at me, and she had a look of worry on her face.

"You came back," she said. "Why?"

I cleared my throat. "Well, uh… I came to help."

The girl blinked her large round eyes at me. "How… how did you know I needed help?"

"I didn't, but I thought that you might."

The girl seemed to hold herself even tighter as she glanced back down at the ground. Carefully, I took a few small steps towards her.

"You're the one who saved me?"

She nodded, still not looking at me.

"You're the one who's been following me?"

"I wasn't stalking or anything, I swear!" she said, her voice going up an octave. "I just- I didn't think there was anyone else like me in this city, I thought I was alone. Then, one night I saw you, and those other things."

"The turtles?" I asked, and she nodded. "Those are my brothers."

"Really? I didn't know that. Did they get mutated and you didn't?"

"It's a long story," I said, scratching the back of my head. "But, why were you following me? And how come you didn't let my brothers see you?"

The girl took a lock of her long white hair and started nervously messing with it. She seemed to hesitate before finally looking up at me and speaking.

"I thought I was alone… then I saw you with those turtles. I thought that if a human could be around four green mutants, than… maybe she wouldn't scared of me, and maybe she could help me…"

She seemed to hunch over and back away, she looked like a scared child. I thought I could feel a slight buzzing in my head, but I ignored it. I slowly walked forward towards her, and she stared up at me in surprise. She didn't move back though, and soon enough I was right in front of her. She was about an inch or two taller than me, but she looked so small right now. I gently lifted my hand and placed it on her feathery shoulder.

"Of course I'll help you," I said. "Me and my brothers and my sensei will all help you, I promise."

Her large purple eyes stared up at me in what appeared to be surprise and amazement. I smiled as I lifted my other hand.

"My name's Nia. What's yours?"

The girl gulped for a moment, then gave me the slightest grin as she reached up, took my hand and gave it a small shake.

"I'm Athena."

I smiled at her as I put an arm around her shoulders and slowly started to lead her out of the building.

"Did you guys catch all of that?" I said softly into my earpiece.

"_Yeah," _said Leo. _"Don't worry, she'll be safe in here until we get home."_

"Who's that?" Athena asked, pointing at my earpiece.

"Oh, it's one of my brothers, Leo," I told her. "Don't worry, they're very friendly… Well, Raph can be a bit of a hothead, but he's all right once you get to know him."

Athena nodded. I patted her shoulder as we finally walked out of the building and out back towards the Shellraiser.

* * *

The ride back home was kind of quiet, but, you couldn't really blame us. I think the boys were just trying not to make Athena nervous. And she already seemed nervous to begin with, so I guess that was good. Mikey, however, could never stay quiet for long and tried talking with her the whole way. She talked very little the whole time, but he did manage to make her smile after telling a few jokes.

"Here we are," said Leo as he finally put the Shellraiser in park.

"That didn't take too long," Athena said.

"We know a few short cuts," I said.

"C'mon!" Mikey said excitedly. "You gotta check out our crib!"

Athena let out a soft noise that sounded like a giggle as she nodded and stood up. She walked up to the doorway, hesitated, then slowly stepped out. I got out after her and started to lead her up towards the turnstiles. They clicked loudly as we walked through them, and I heard grunts from behind me that told me the guys were flipping and leaping over the machines, as usual. I looked over at Athena and saw her gazing wide-eyed all around.

"This is where you live?" she asked, not looking at me as she continued to look around.

"Yup," I said. "Not bad for an abandoned subway station in the sewers, huh?"

"It's totally awesome!" Mikey leapt up in front of us. "Look! We got an awesome TV with a Play Station- Oh, do you play video games?"

Athena probably would've blushed if she could, because she had a look on her face that suggested superb nervousness.

"N-Not really, no," she said softly. "Sorry."

"Hey, Athena," Donnie spoke. "Maybe you should come into my lab, and I can check and make sure you're alright. Yah know, make sure you've got no injuries or anything."

Athena fiddled with a piece of her snow-white hair. "Well, alright," then she looked at me. "Are you coming?"

"You go ahead," I said, patting her shoulder. "I gotta go tell our sensei you're here, I'll be back."

She nodded slowly before following Donnie into his lab.

"Good luck explaining this," Raph said, smirking as he, Leo and Mikey followed the other two into the lab.

I glared at him slightly before turning and heading towards the dojo. As I passed through the threshold I saw Sensei pacing around inside.

"Sensei."

He looked up. "Ah, welcome home, Lavinia," he said as I walked towards him. "How did it go? Did you find anything?"

"Oh, we found something," I said. "Well, more like some_one_."

"So, you found the mutant who saved you at TCRI?"

I nodded. "Yep. Her name's Athena, and, um… she's an owl."

Sensei gave a small nod. He looked down at me for a moment before he spoke again.

"I assume you brought her back?"

I nodded. "You were right, Sensei. She wasn't trying to stalk me, she just wanted help from other mutants and someone who could handle mutants."

"Where is she now?"

"She's in Donnie's lab, he's giving her a checkup."

"Hm. Well, we should go and make sure she feels welcome."

"Hai, Sensei."

I turned and lead Sensei out of the dojo. He followed me as I walked towards Donnie's lab and entered it. I looked around and saw Leo, Raph and Mikey standing around Donnie's desk. Athena was sitting in a chair in front of Donnie, who was standing in front of her with a small light in his hands.

"Follow the light with your eyes," he informed her as he held the light to her face.

Athena followed the tiny light with her large eyes as it was moved from side to side. After a few seconds he moved the light away.

"Well, that's it," he said. "Athena, as far as mutants go, you are a picture of health."

Athena smiled. "Thanks."

I gave Sensei a slight nod before we both continued into the dojo. Athena spotted us first, and a look of shock appeared on her face when she saw Splinter. The others turned around and noticed us as well.

"Hey Sensei," Mikey said cheerfully.

Sensei smiled at his son before stopping in front of Athena, who was still sitting in the chair looking nervous. I walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sensei," I said. "This is Athena. Athena, this is Master Splinter."

Athena seemed to gulp as she looked up at Sensei, her talons gripping her knees.

"It's nice to meet you," she said softly. "I do hope I'm not imposing on your home."

"Not at all," Sensei said as he bowed respectfully. "It is an honor to meet the person who saved my daughter's life."

"Oh, it was nothing," Athena said, though she was smiling. "I mean, any decent person would've done the same thing."

"But, you actually did it, and for that I thank you."

Athena seemed to straighten up more as she smiled. I smiled too. This was going just as I had hoped.

"Lavinia informs me that you were seeking help from her and my sons," Sensei said. "Could you tell us why?"

"Oh, of course," she said. "But… I don't know where to begin."

"Just start from the beginning," I said as I patted her shoulder. "Like, you can start from when you were first mutated."

"Well… alright," Athena cleared her throat. "Well, it happened about 2 years ago, when I was 13. I had a part-time job at the New York Bird Sanctuary, and one day it was my turn to work the night shift. I was taking care of the owls that night. I love owls, they're so amazing and beautiful. That's one of the reasons I wanted to work there in the first place. Anyway, I was just about to lock up when I heard some noise outside. I went to check it out and…"

She paused. I patted her shoulder and gestured for her to keep going. She nodded.

"I saw these men who all looked the same in the alley, and I saw that they had one of our owls in a cage. I knew it was ours because it was my favorite owl. An albino barn owl that I named Amber. She was the first bird I took care of when I started working there, and I loved her. I got mad and told them to put her down, but then they just came at me. I managed to shove them off and get Amber out of the alley. But… Uhh, it's kind of a blank after that. I just remember taking Amber out of her cage, and the next thing I knew I was in some kind of cell. I remember looking through the class and seeing these- these weird robots with alien brains in their chests."

I looked up at the others. "You all thinking what I'm thinking?"

"The Kraang…" Leo said lowly.

"What happened after that?" Sensei asked.

"I felt something different about me after I woke up," Athena continued. "My vision and my hearing was different, and I felt… funny all over. It didn't take me long to realize what they had done to me. I was shocked and sad, but I knew I couldn't stay in that awful place."

"How did you escape?" asked Donnie.

"I don't know how it happened," she said. "I just remember sleeping on the floor when the cell and the whole hall when black. I think there was some kind of black out and the whole building must've shut off. All of the robots, even the ones guarding me, ran off to check it out. The blackout must've affected the cells too, because the doors unlocked and opened. I made sure that no one was around before running out of there. It took forever to find an exit, but I did and I ran far away from that place."

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"Well, obviously I went back to my home. I needed to see my parents, I needed their help."

I felt soft buzzing in my head, but I just assumed that a fly was by my ear or something. I focused on Athena, who had suddenly hung her head.

"I… I think I must've scared them. I don't think they knew that it was me. I tried to talk to them, but… they…"

Athena lowered her head and let out hearty sniff. She didn't need to continue. I had a pretty good idea on what her parents did. I hunched over slightly and put an arm around her as she started to sniffle. I looked up when I saw Sensei reach behind him and pull out what looked like hanky and hand it to Athena. She looked up at in surprise before slowly taking it and wiping her eyes.

"What happened after that?" Leo asked.

"What else? I left before they could do anything," she said. "I went back one night to get a few of my things then went out on my own. I've mostly just been crashing anywhere I could fine. Mostly abandoned buildings, like the one you found me at," she said. "It's not so bad, just a bit lonely is all."

I lifted my head to look at the others and saw that they all had the same surprised look on their faces. I looked up at Sensei to see that he was looking down at Athena with concern.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore," I said.

Athena looked up at me. "What?"

"Lavinia is right," said Sensei. "We cannot simply turn away. You are welcomed here for as long as you like."

Athena stared up at him with wide eyes, her beak-like mouth hanging open. She blinked her large purple eyes at him, and her beak formed into a small smile.

* * *

Everyone likes Fridays. Most teens like it because it means it's the start of the weekend and the end of school for that week. I like it because, for me and Raph, Friday is poker night for us. For the past 2 years Raph's been my personal poker buddy, and we've been playing every Friday night. Obviously we gamble, but we don't exactly have cash on us. We usually just use whatever sweets we got on us. I guess in a way it's more fun that way. Neither of us are losing anything of too much value if we lose at least.

"You are so getting owned, dude," I said as I fell into my comfy beanbag chair.

"Not this time," he said as he sat on the floor in front of me. "I'm gonna win everything you've got."

"No way, man. I'm gonna win all the candy I lost the last week."

"Well, that sucks for you, 'cause I already ate them."

I gaped as he smirked at me.

"Oh, you are so getting it now."

"Whatever," he said as he started shuffling cards. "Texas Hold 'Em?"

"Yep. What're you betting?"

Raph paused his shuffling to reach behind him and pulled out a half-empty bag of what was obviously more sour gummy worms.

"I'm surprised you still have some after that last bet."

"Shut it," he said as he continued shuffling. "What do you got?"

I reached behind the chair and pulled out a reasonably full bag of Jolly Ranchers.

"Sweet," he said. "Gonna be fun winning those."

"Haha," I said as I set the bag down by my feet. "C'mon, deal."

Raph shuffled the cards one more time before dealing each of us two cards, and then placing five in-between us. He set the remainder of the deck beside us. At the same time, each of us reached into our bags and pulled out two pieces of candy and set it in a small bowl.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"First person to get to 10 wins?"

"Sounds good."

Raph reached over and flipped a card at one end over. 2 of hearts. I picked up my two cards just as Raph did and looked down. A Queen of Clubs and a Jack of Diamonds. Both are high cards, but they need to match with one of the cards in front of me. I saw Raph put another worm in the bowl, and I put another Rancher in too. I reached down and flipped over the next card. King of Clubs. Raph put two worms in the bowl, I put one Rancher. He looked up at me for a moment, smirking before flipping over the third card. 6 of Spades. I decided to go first and put two Ranchers in the bowl. Raph paused for a moment, then put two worms in the bowl. I tapped my finger against my cards as I looked over at him. He was looking down at his cards. He then flipped the fourth card over. Jack of Hearts. _Finally, I got a match. _I put two Ranchers in the pot, Raph put only one worm.

"Just one?" I asked. "What, worried you might lose more?"

"What makes you think I'm worried?"

I snorted as I reached over and flipped over the last card. 7 of Diamonds. A second later both me and Raph lowered our hands and flashed our cards. I gaped in shock when I saw he had a match too; King of Spades.

"What?" I gasped.

"You were saying?" Raph said smugly. "Who's losing stuff now?"

I glared at him. "Oh, shut up and take the bowl."

Raph chuckled as he dropped his cards and picked up the small bowl. I grumbled as I picked up the cards and began shuffling them. At that moment I heard a soft creak. I looked up and saw Athena standing in the doorway.

"Hey Athena," I said. "Wanna come in?"

Raph turned around as I spoke and looked at Athena too. She hesitated for a moment before slowly walking in.

"What're you guys doing?" she asked.

"Playing poker," I said. "You want in?"

"Oh, I don't play. But, thank you," she said. "Um, could I watch?"

"Go ahead," Raph said as he dumped his winnings into his lap.

Athena walked over and sat down on my bed. I shuffled the cards and dealt them out.

"Are you doing all right?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "This place is a lot more comfortable than that warehouse."

"I bet."

I put a Rancher in the now empty bowl before picking up my cards. 7 of Diamonds and a 2 of Spades. _A bit low, but I should be fine. _I glanced over at Athena and saw that she was looking at Raph, but she appeared to be fighting with herself to do something.

"Um, sorry," she finally said. "But, I'm terrible with names. You're Raphael, right?"

Raph looked up at her as he was tossing a worm into the bowl. "Oh, yeah. That's me."

"That's what I thought. I'm having trouble remembering who's who."

"No big deal," I said as I flipped the first card over, which happened to be a 6 of Clubs. "This should help; the one with the blue mask is Leonardo, the one with the purple is Donatello…"

"And the knucklehead in orange who was cracking jokes yesterday was Mikey," Raph cut across me as he tossed another worm in the bowl.

Athena giggled. "Yeah, I remember that one," she said. "Michelangelo is very funny."

"You haven't seen half of it," I said as I tossed in a Rancher.

"Pretty unique names, though," said Athena. "Including yours, Lavinia. Italian, aren't they?"

"Yep," I said. "Even mine."

"How did you get names like that?"

"Sensei named us after his favorite Renaissance artists," Raph said as he flipped over the next card, a 7 of Hearts. "He didn't name Nia, though. She just happened to get hers."

I smirked a little as I tossed in 2 Ranchers. Raph glanced up at me suspiciously before tossing in 2 worms. Athena cleared her throat.

"So, Splinter is like your father, right?" she asked. "So, does that mean you have the same last name?"

"Yeah," said Raph. "All Hamato's here."

"Well, do you have any middle names?"

I paused halfway through flipping the next card- a 2 of Diamonds- and started giggling. Athena looked over at me, her feathery eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, still giggling. "The guys just think their middle names are kinda silly."

"We do not," Raph retorted.

"Oh yeah? Then tell Athena your middle name."

Raph blinked then glared slightly at me. He looked over at Athena, who was looking down at him curiously, and sighed as he set his cards down. He motioned for her to come closer and she leaned in. He cupped his hands around her ears and whispered. I smirked as she leaned back.

"Firenzi?"

Raph blinked and stared at her, apparently surprised that she would dare say it out loud. I couldn't help but giggle at the look on his face and he glared at me again.

"Yah better shut it."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," I said as I ceased my giggles. "But, yeah, that's his middle name."

"What about the others?" asked Athena.

"Well," Raph picked up his cards, looking completely okay with telling her about his brother's middle names. "Leo's is Yoshi, Donnie's is Giovanni, and Mikey's is Jiacobbe."

"All wonderfully unique if you ask me," I said as I resumed to flip the card from before over. 5 of Clubs.

"Oh, I think they're really nice," said Athena sweetly. "What's yours, Nia?"

"Mine?" I said. "Oh no, mine's not that special."

"Bull crap," Raph said as he tossed a worm into the pot.

"Please tell me," Athena begged. "Tell you what. If you tell me your middle name, I'll tell you mine."

I grinned. "Well, alright," I put a Rancher in the pot before setting my cards down. "Well, my middle name is Maeko."

"Maeko?" Athena asked. "Is that Japanese?"

"Yes, it is," I said. "Sensei gave it to me."

"Oh, you didn't have one before you came here?"

I looked up at her. "How… how did you know I wasn't always here?"

Athena blinked and glanced down, away from me. "W-well… I just kind of assumed you weren't always here. I mean, you're the only human, so…"

I raised my eyebrow, but was distracting by a soft tingling in the back of my head; it was that buzzing from before. I shook my head slightly and grinned up at her.

"Well, to be honest," I began. "I don't remember my middle name, if I even had one. I don't even remember my last name. I do remember one day Mikey was teasing Raph by calling him by his middle name. I asked the guys and they told me their middle names, but when they asked me what mine was I couldn't tell them because I didn't know it. I was a kid, so something like that bothered me. For some reason I felt that had to tell someone, so I told Sensei about it."

"What did he say?" Athena asked.

"He didn't say anything," I smiled. "What he did was give me my middle name, and it was one of the best things I ever got from him."

Honestly, it was more than just the fact that I got a middle name. To me, Sensei giving me my middle name was almost like him naming me as his child. And of course, back then, that was one of the best thing to ever happen to me, and it still is. It was like the way a parent names their child after they're born, and it was so important and special to me, so much so that I'll never forget it.

"What does it mean?" Athena asked.

"It means 'child of true blessing'."

"Oh wow, that sounds lovely," Athena smiled at me. "Um… my middle name is Lilith. It's not as pretty as yours, but…"

I grinned at her. "Well, I think it's a beautiful name."

Athena looked over and smiled at me. I smiled back. Raph suddenly cleared his throat loudly.

"Are we still playin'?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh, right!" I said as I swiped up my cards. "Prepare to get stomped."

Man, I really ate those words once Raph won the next 5 out of 9 rounds and took most of my Jolly Ranchers in the process.

* * *

"You all stretched out?"

"Yeah," said April as she stood up. "I'm ready, let's go!"

"Easy, rooky," I said playfully. "I'm just helping you train with basics today. Now take out your weapon."

April nodded as she reached behind her and took out a long, black object. She looked down at it for a moment before she opened it to reveal a tessen similar to mine. See, the tessen that Sensei had given me years ago had another one similar to it, so they made a pair. I can use 2 just fine, but I do prefer to use one, so I don't use the other one much, if at all. And I was happy when Sensei told me that he had given the other one to April. She deserved a weapon like that.

"Okay," I said. "Show me the katas you've learned so far."

April nodded, a smile on her face. She looked so excited. She stepped into position and slowly started the first kata. As she did I heard a slight shuffling from behind me. I turned around and saw that it was Athena.

"Hey," I said brightly. "Come on it."

Athena glanced around the place, looking nervous about even being in there, but after a few seconds she did walk in. She grinned up at me as she walked up to stand beside me.

"What are you two doing?" she asked.

"Training. Sensei asked me to work with April to help her train with her tessen. The fan," I added at the confused look on her face.

"Oh, right."

I turned away from her to look back at April, who was halfway through her first kata. For a while there was silence as April did her katas. I'd glance over at Athena sometimes, but she would always have her eye on April.

"Alright," I said as April finished her last kata. "Let's see how many moves you've learned since you got that thing. What do yah say?"

"Sure!" April said excitedly.

I turned around to look at Athena. "You wanna watch?"

"Oh yes, please," she said as she slowly sat down on her legs.

I walked up as I withdrew my tessen from its holster. April looked a little nervous as I did, but she put on a determined look as she got into position. I grinned as I held up my own fan. We stood still for a moment, then April ran at me. I shifted to the right to avoid collision and she ran past me, skidding to a halt. She whipped around to stare at me. She charged at me again and I spun around so that I ended up behind her. I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, raising my tessen up to her face. She gasped, and a second later groaned irritably.

"Try again?" I asked.

"Please?"

I chuckled as I released her and stepped back. She turned around to look at me and we both got into position. I decided to see how she would react to being charged, so I ran forward. She raised her fan to block whatever I was going to throw at her. But, at the last second I swerved to the right, spun around and elbowed her arm, shoving her to the side. I quickly shifted to her other side and crouched down, sticking my leg out, and she fell over it and landed on the ground.

I withdrew my leg as I looked down at April. She said up, and I laughed when I saw that her yellow headband had slid down her face, and both it and her bangs were covering her eyes. I reached over and pushed the headband up out of the way. She looked at me through her bangs and laughed nervously.

"Try to keep your balance," I told her.

"Right," she said.

I reached out and took her hand as I helped her to her feet. We both took a few steps away from each other and got into positions again. Deciding attacking would be best, I charged at her again. I opened my tessen and swung down at the last second. This time, April was ready. She instantly raised her fan and blocked my blow. I saw a glint in her eyes when she realized what she had done, and a second later raised her fist, which shot towards me. I leaned to the left to avoid it, and I raised my fist as well. She moved out of the way to avoid it, but I still managed to punch her shoulder. She backed away, holding the shoulder I had hit before raising her hands again. Curiously, I glanced out the corner of my eye to look at Athena to see how she was taking this.

Athena was sitting on her legs, her talons clutching into small fists. She appeared to be sitting completely still, not moving whatsoever. Her large purple eyes seemed to be larger as they stared, not at both of us, but at me. She was keeping those stunning eyes on me. But she wasn't just staring, she was observing. It was like she was studying everything I was doing, even though I was still. But there was something else in those eyes, something I couldn't read, something-

I felt something ram into me and my back hit the floor with a loud thud. My tessen flew out of my hands as my head hit the floor. _What the-? _I looked up to see April standing over me, a look of triumph on her face.

"Yes!" April cheered. "I've never done that before! I did it!"

"Good one," I said, smiling at her as I picked up my tessen and stood up. I didn't have the heart to tell her that the only reason she bested me was because I got distracted, but then again, I shouldn't have let myself get distracted. That could be dangerous in a real fight. "You're definitely getting good. Your training with Master Splinter must be paying off."

"Totally!" she said excitedly. "Soon I'll be able to kick some butt!"

"April…" I said slightly warningly. "Remember what Sensei said about that?"

"Oh, right," she said rubbed the back of her neck, looking sheepish. "But it's still cool knowing that I can!"

I chuckled as I closed my tessen and put it in its holster. I heard shuffling from behind me and I turned to see Athena standing behind me.

"That was fascinating, girls," she said. "Really. I better go now. Mikey made me promise that I'd play video games with him to see how good I am."

She gave us a small wave before turning and leaving the dojo. I didn't take my eyes off of her even as she left. I couldn't shake the feeling I got when I saw her watching us. Yes, I said she could watch us train, but the way she looked- no, stared at us with those paralyzing bright eyes, it was unnerving.

"Nia, are you alright?"

"Huh- Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I said as I turned to look at April. "You did good today, April. You and that tessen did pretty good today."

April beamed. "Thanks, Nia."

"Don't mention it. Hey, could I see it for a second?"

April held her tessen out to me and I took it and opened it. It was in perfect condition, just like mine, though it was clearly visible that it wasn't nearly as used as mine was. It looked exactly like mine. Suddenly, a most wonderful, amazing idea popped into my head.

"April, could I keep this for a little bit?" I asked. "I just want to make sure that it works well and there's nothing wrong with it. Can't have it doing something funny in the middle of a fight, right?"

"Oh, you're right," she said, looking down at the tessen curiously. "Sure, check it out for as long as you want."

"Great."

"Well, I gotta go. My aunt's called me twice already, I need to get home before she gets really mad."

"See yah later then," I said as she walked away.

She smiled and waved at me before walking out of the dojo. I waited until I knew she was gone before letting out the excited squeal I had been holding in.

"She's so gonna love this!"

* * *

We all ate lunch shortly after April left. Mikey decided to make us all some of his "world-famous" pizza-noodle soup, which apparently wasn't just for making someone feel better. Of course, the other guys were skeptical about trying it, especially Raph. But after telling them that it was really good and eating it in front of them as proof, they finally caved in and tried it. Not surprisingly, they liked it. They liked it so much that they asked for seconds, and in Raph's case thirds. Needless to say, there were a lot of dirty dishes at the end of the meal. The other three had already left the kitchen and ran off to do their own things, leaving me and Mikey in the kitchen with the dirty plates and bowls.

"Go on," I said to Mikey, who was looking as though he were dying to play some video games right now. "I'll clean up. You go play."

"You sure?"

"Sure."

Mikey beamed as he ran up and hugged me. "Thanks, Nia!"

I giggled as I patted his head before he ran off, cheering happily. I turned around and looked at all the bowls on the table and the large soup pot on the stove. I shook my head.

"Boys…"

I started to pick up all the bowls on the table when the curtains to the kitchen opened up. It was Athena.

"Hey Nia."

"Hi," I said. "Sorry you missed lunch. The boys ate all of Mikey's soup."

"Oh, that's okay. I'm not that hungry," she looked around. "Are you cleaning this by yourself?"

"I was going to."

"…Would you like some help?"

"Sure, if you want."

Athena nodded. She walked forward and picked up a few more bowls as I went over to the kitchen sink.

"I can't believe they left you to do the dishes," she said reproachfully.

"Eh, that's guys for yah," I said as I set the bowls on the counter and picked up the pot. "They might be ninja fighting mutant, but they're still a bunch of teenage boys."

"Boys, right?"

We both giggled and nodded. I turned on the sink and filled the pot halfway with water. I grabbed the sponge and squeezed some soap on it before starting to scrub it.

"I'll wash, you dry," I said.

"Sounds fine."

For a while, things were quiet as I washed the pot. I washed out all of the soup and easily handed her the pot. She grabbed a nearby towel and began drying it. I grabbed a bowl and started to wash that.

"So," Athena said softly. "You really care about the others, huh?"

I paused my washing to glance over at her. It was a curious question, but I didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Yeah, of course I do," I said as I continued washing. "They are my brothers after all."

Athena nodded. "Do you ever fight with them? I mean, siblings always fight."

"Not really. Sometimes they make stupid decisions and I get irritated at them, but I've never really fought with any of them."

"Not even Raphael?" she asked. "Forgive me, but he seems… less friendly than the others."

I sighed, pausing my washing once more. "We did, once. But, it was a while ago. We're over it now."

I handed Athena the bowl just as she set the now dry pot on the counter. She took the bowl and began drying it.

"You must care about Splinter then too, huh?"

"Of course I do," I said. "He's my master, he taught me everything I know. He's raised me and cared for me. He's the closest thing to a father I have."

"Of course."

A few more clean bowls later and Athena was silent. I had grabbed the second to last bowl and started to wash it when Athena spoke again.

"And you were down here your whole life after they took you in?" she asked.

"Yep, pretty much," I said. "Up until we all turned 15. We've been able to go out to the surface whenever we like, though it's mostly because we got… stuff to take care of."

Athena nodded. "Have you ever gone up there without them?"

"Sometimes. Mostly so I can hang out with my friends, Vanessa and Angus."

"Do you ever go… just by yourself?"

I looked over at her. "No, not really."

"Have you ever wanted to go to the surface without the others?"

"Have I ever wanted to? No, never."

I slowed my washing as I kept my eyes on her. Athena was starting to ask some strange questions. Curiosity is one this, but this seemed to be more than that.

"Have you ever wanted," Athena said, now roughly drying the same bowl she's had for 10 minutes. "To do something, had an idea, but you couldn't because it would affect your relationship with the turtles?"

I looked over at her as I picked up the last bowl. This was a little strange.

"Athena, what's this all about?"

Athena whipped around to look at me, and for a second I felt paralyzed under her gaze, like I couldn't move or even look away. There was something in her eyes that I didn't recognized, and it was unsettling. But, for some unknown reason, I couldn't bring myself to want to look away from those stunning purple eyes.

"Lavinia," she said, and her voice sounded different as my full name rolled off of her tongue. "Have you ever, even for a slightest moment, wanted to leave this place? And not just to be with your friends or anything like that. Have you ever had the desire to leave… and not come back?"

_Snap! _Somehow, after those words were said, whatever spell I was under finally broke. I blinked at her, suddenly feeling horrified by what she had said, and I felt my hands shaking as I suddenly dropped the bowl. The dish landed on the floor and broke with a loud crash, and suddenly, Athena reared her head back and screeched. She screamed and screamed, covering the spots on her head where her ears would have been with her hands. The screeching pierced my ears painfully, and I yelled as I covered my own.

The screaming was over as soon as it started. I uncovered my ears and looked around. Athena was hunched over, breathing heavily, one hand on the table to support herself. Before I could even ask the kitchen curtains burst open, and all four turtles were standing there.

"What's wrong?" Leo demanded. "What happened?"

"I don't know," I said. "We were just washing dishes, and then-"

"It's my fault, Leo," Athena said. Her soft voice had returned and she was straightening up again. "We were washing dishes, and one of the bowls slipped out of Nia's hands, and it fell and broke. You see, my ears are hypersensitive, and any loud noise like that hurts my ears when it's near me," she groaned as she rubbed her head. "Ugh… That one really hurt. I'm so sorry I scared you guys, I really didn't mean it."

"Don't worry about it," Leo said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It was an accident."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Mikey asked.

Athena nodded. "Yeah, I'm just gonna have a headache for a bit."

"I've got some painkillers in my lab if you want some," Donnie offered.

"That'd be great, thanks."

Both Athena and Donnie walked out of the kitchen together. I couldn't help but watch Athena. She was acting a lot different then she had been a second ago.

"You okay, dudette?"

"Huh-Oh! Yeah, I'm fine," I told Mikey. I nervously bit my lip as I looked down at the mess on the floor. "Erm… I'm just gonna pick this up."

"Want some help?" Raph offered.

"No, you guys go on, I'll be out in a minute."

They looked at me for a moment before they all turned and exited the kitchen. I picked up a small towel as I knelt down and started picking up the broken pieces and putting them in the cloth. Now that I had gotten over the shock of what happened I was able to think about what Athena had said. She was asking some very odd questions and the way she looked at me was unnerving. Now, I didn't know her that well yet, but I had known her enough to tell that that was out of the ordinary for her based on what we've all seen so far.

I stood up and went over to the trashcan, dumping the remains of the bowl inside. Why was she asking me those things? Why was she looking at me that way? Why did she ask me if I wanted to leave… and not come back? I'd never leave this place!

Would I…?

* * *

"_Can't you just tell me what you've got planned this time?"_

"No, I can't!"

"_But, Nia-"_

"Trust me, April, it's worth it! Just come done here for 5 minutes, please!"

April sighed. _"You're lucky I'm already out. I had to go do grocery shopping for my aunt."_

"So…?"

"_Yes! I'll be there in 10 minutes."_

"Great! See yah then!"

I hung up the phone, a smile growing on my face.

"Yes!" I sprang to my feet. "She's so gonna love this!"

I stuffed my phone in my jacket pocket as I walked towards my room, a small spring in my step. But just as I reached the hallway I saw my bedroom door open, and Athena slowly walked out. I stopped in my tracks as I stared at her. She looked around as she turned and slowly shut the door. Curiosity overtook me, and I quickly walked up to her.

"Hey Athena."

Athena whipped around, a look of surprise on her face that slowly turned into a smile.

"Hi," she said softly. "I was just looking for you. You're not busy, are you?"

"Actually, I'm doing something in a few minutes, but it won't take long."

"What're you doing?"

"I just invited April over," I explained. "I got something cool to show her."

"Like what?"

I looked over my shoulders to see if any of the others were there. When I saw that the coast was clear, I leaned in and gestured for Athena to do so as well.

"I took April's tessen and told her that I wanted to check it out to see if it was working well," I whispered. "But, that's not why I took it. I got Sensei's permission and added a few… things to it that I think she'll like."

Athena raised her eyebrow. "You decorated it?"

"For lack of a better word, yes."

"Hmm, interesting…" Athena straightened up. "Well, I won't keep you."

"Where're you going?" I asked.

"Oh, Leo just wanted to show me around the sewers in this place," she told me. "He doesn't want me getting lost around here, so he's going to show me how to get around."

But even as she spoke I felt something in the back of my head. _It's that buzzing again, _I thought irritably. _God, it's getting annoying._

"Well, good luck with that," I said. "Hope you can keep up."

"Oh, I'm sure I can."

Athena grinned at me before turning and walking away. I watched her for a moment before turning and walking into my room.

I probably sat waiting on my bed for 10 minutes before anything happened. I was listening to my music when I saw the door start to open slightly. I yanked out one of my earbuds and looked up as a head of red hair appeared.

"Alright, I'm here," she said. "Now what is it you wanted?"

I grinned as I put down my phone and earbuds and sat up on my bed.

"Well, I got a little surprise for you," I said.

"It's not my birthday."

I rolled my eyes. "I know! Look, remember the other day when I asked if I could check out your tessen to see if it was in okay condition?" April nodded. "Well, I did, and I also added a little something."

April raised her eyebrows in surprise. I simply smiled as I reached down under my bed and pulled out a shoe box.

"Nia, what did you do?" April asked as she walked over and sat on my bed next to me.

I grinned. "See for yourself."

I turned, faced the box towards her, and opened it. April looked down inside. Then she looked up at me, and to my surprise she looked confused.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?"

I blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"There's nothing in there, Nia."

I stared at her for a moment before looking into the box myself. It was completely empty.

"Oh no…"

I shut the box and threw it on the ground as I sprang to my feet and ran out of my room. I skidded to a halt as I came into the living room. I saw Raph, Donnie and Mikey all sitting in the pit.

"Guys!" I said as I ran over to them. "Guys, have you seen April's tessen?"

"What?"

"Her tessen! It was in my room in a shoebox under my bed."

"I have no idea," said Donnie. "I haven't seen it."

"Me neither," said Mikey.

I looked over at Raph, but he just shook his head.

"Well, where the hell could it be?"

"Guys, what's going on?"

I straightened up, paused, and slowly turned around. Leo was standing there, arms folded, a look of confusion on his face.

"Leo?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You're supposed to be out with Athena," I said. "She said that you were taking her around the sewers, and that's why she… she…"

My voice trailed off. All at once everything seemed to come together in a manner of seconds.

"No…"

"What is it?" April asked.

"Nia," said Donnie. "Nia, what's wrong?"

I glance down at the floor. "She took it."

"What?"

"Athena took April's tessen, but… but, why? I don't…"

"Nia, what're you saying?" Leo said as he walked up to me. "Is everything alright?"

I blinked as I shook my head. I looked up at Leo, who was looking at me with concern.

"It will be."

I suddenly went around him and sprinted towards the exit.

"Nia, wait!"

But I ignored him and leapt over the turnstiles. Glancing down to make sure that my own tessen was still attached to me, I continued running.

* * *

It wasn't hard to figure out where she was going. There was only one place I thought she would go to, and I wasted no time in getting there. I looked at the abandoned area for a moment before I leapt over the fence. I landed on my feet and continued running. I had no idea what to expect, but I was on full alert. I sped past the various other buildings before I found the one I had been looking for. I skidded to a halt as I stood in front of the building that I had found Athena in.

"What are you up to?" I whispered to myself.

I took a deep breath before I raised my hands and pushed the door open. I leaned in and peeked inside. Despite there being no light, I could still see surprisingly well. I slowly slid all the way in and calmly shut the door behind me. Even as I walked further in I heard movement from somewhere in the room.

"You can turn the flashlight on if you want," said a calm voice in the darkness. "I know it must be dark in here. But, I bet you can see very well, can't you?"

It was Athena's voice, but it didn't sound like her. She sounded completely different than how she usually talked. I looked up and noticed a figure standing on the beams above me. Before I could look more the figure leapt up and landed on the ground in front of me. I knew it was Athena as soon as those purple eyes locked onto me.

"Athena," I said. "Give me April's tessen."

Athena chuckled. "Is that really the only reason you came after me? Seriously?"

I stared at her. That look on her face didn't suit her at all. What was more, she wasn't even denying that she had taken it, which was even more unsettling.

"It doesn't belong to you," I said firmly as I walked toward. "Please give it back."

Athena smirked at me. Then she reached behind her and pulled out the long, black fan.

"What, this?" she asked. "Oh, but it's such a pretty little thing, and powerful too. Seems a shame that it should be given to someone who doesn't deserve it."

I blinked. "What?"

"Well, April wasn't exactly using it properly the other day, was she? You stomped her, Nia."

"She's a rookie, she'll learn!" I shook my head. "Look, just give it back."

"In a moment. I didn't drag you out here just to let you leave immediately."

"Then what do you want?"

"To talk."

I raised my eyebrows. What the hell was going on?

"About what?"

"You, Lavinia. You," Athena walked towards me, and then started to circle around me. "I've been watching you for a while, Lavinia, and I must say I'm very impressed."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Athena, what's going on?"

"The second I saw you," Athena continued, not answering me. "I knew that something was different. I mean, being around a bunch of mutants was one thing, but I knew you were special, that you were unique. And I soon found out I was right."

I turned my head to look as Athena continued to walk around me. I didn't know what was going on, but I didn't like it.

"You stalked me."

"No, not stalking. Observing," she corrected. "There's a big difference, my dear. I wanted to observe you and your brothers, to learn what I could. But I knew that someday I would want to communicate with you, meet you if I could. I was actually forging a plan to meet you when you and your brothers arrived here days ago."

My eyes followed Athena as she continued to circle around me, the very tips of her wings dragging on the ground. Suddenly, a realization popped into my head.

"You lied..." I breathed. "You lied about everything. Everything you told us when we found you."

"Not everything," she said. "When I told you and your brothers about how I got mutated, that was true. But, the bit about my parents, that was a lie. They didn't kick me out."

"What did they do?"

"Oh, I know you'll find this interesting," Athena finally stopped in front of my and folded her arms. "I say '_they_ didn't do anything' because there wasn't a 'they' to begin with. It was just my father who saw me after my mutation. You're confused," she stated as I stared at her. "You should be. I forgot to mention one tiny detail about my parents. I only ever lived with my father. My mother… she died giving birth to me."

I felt my mouth part slightly as I stared at her. "What?"

"Yes, it's tragic. Needless to say, my father didn't take it well. I have no idea what he was like before, but he was an angry man towards me since the day he brought me home. He completely ruined my childhood, to say the least. Wasn't a very fatherly figure, and he would constantly insult me and hurt me. It got worse as I got older. If I got home even 5 minutes after my curfew he'd accuse me of being with a boy and lash out at me."

I felt stiff as I continued to stare at her, not saying a word. What freaked me out wasn't the fact that she was explaining this as though she were talking about the weather. It was that everything she was saying sounded very familiar…

"It wasn't until I was 12 that I found out that one of the main reasons he was so angry with me was because he thought that my mom had an affair, and that I wasn't his child. 'No way a pathetic albino could be my kid' he said to me."

"Albino?" I said, speaking for the first time in a while. "You were…"

"Yes," she said, and for the first time since I arrived here her voice was soft. "I was an albino girl. I had pale skin, white hair… and purple eyes. I didn't mind at all though. I liked being albino. It made me feel… unique and special. Especially my eyes. How many normal people can say they have purple eyes, huh? And no one at school ever made fun of me for my looks either. Hell, I was a gorgeous little thing according to some of my classmates. You know, looking back, I suppose I was a pretty thing, but I didn't see it back then. You know how insecure 13 year-old girls can be."

I gave a stiff nod.

"Your dad hated you just because he thought you might not be his biological daughter?" I asked. "But, he raised you, put you through school… there must've been something."

"I used to think that too," she said. "I used to think he wouldn't have even kept me if he didn't care about me, right? I found out later that he kept me there so that he could have someone smaller than him to push around, make him feel big."

I shook my head. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked incredulously.

"I would've thought that was obvious," said Athena. "I'm trying to prove something."

"Prove what?"

"That you and I are the same, and that I know you," she grinned. "I know you, Lavinia. I know you more than you know yourself."

I felt my brows furrow as I shook my head at her. "You don't know me," I said. "You don't…"

"Oh, but I do," Athena spoke calmly. "I know you because I know where you come from."

That made me stop. I blinked, staring as I felt my jaw unclench.

"You see, I know what it's like to live in a broken home," Athena said, her voice softer than before. "To grow up without a mother, to live with a father who will beat you mercilessly for no reason. We're not the first to live through that kind of hell, and we certainly won't be the last. But we are very different from most people. See, you and I, we're survivors. We've both learned to not let our horrible past control us. But, then again, it is our past that has made us both strong.

"But you, Lavinia, you're different. You're a very special case. You see, you were given something that in our case almost never happens; you were given a second chance. You were saved from your abusive future at a very young age- 8 years-old, didn't you say?- so not only were you still able to experience life as an innocent child, but you were also able to live it with the people who saved you, and who still… care about you. Though, I can't imagine how it must've been for them to adjust to-"

"Why did you say like that?"

Athena looked at me, apparently puzzled that I interrupted her. "Say what?"

"When you said that the others care about me," I said. "You said it… weird. Why?"

Athena paused as she looked at me. "Let's just say I have my doubts on how much longer you'll be staying with them."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let me explain this first. I've been on the run ever since I got mutated, as I told you before, and about a year ago I realized how much of an improvement my new for was for me, and how it had changed my life. And I realized… I wanted to do that for others as well. I could help other kids just like me who are in similar situations and help them reach their full potential, and I want that for you as well."

"What are you talking about?" I took a step back. "What do you mean 'full potential'?"

Athena opened her mouth to speak, and then suddenly closed it. Her eyes had wandered away from me and appeared to be looking somewhere behind me.

"Well, it's about time," she said. "I was beginning to wonder when they'd show up."

"What is it?" I asked as I looked around.

"You're brothers are about to be here."

I turned back around. "How do you know?"

"I have hyper-sensitive ears, remember?" she said. "I can hear their heartbeats from here. They've been following you since you left. They're close now, but they were very far behind you. You're a lot faster when you want to be."

I raised my eyebrows at her. This whole thing was just so weird I didn't even know how to respond. Athena put her hand on her hips as she turned and started to walk away. After a few moments she stopped.

"I didn't meet you now to fight you, Lavinia, nor do I want to fight your brothers… yet. I am using this opportunity only to tell you my offer," Athena turned her head, and I flinched when I realized it had turned almost completely around to look at me. "Consider what could happen if you left your brothers and come be a part of what I have in store for people just like you. Seriously think about it, because the next time I see you, I'll be expecting an answer."

Before I could respond her wings opened up and she shot up into the air.

"Oh, by the way…"

I had a split second to react. I saw the small flash and instantly raised my hand. The object reached my hand and I grabbed it. I lowered it and looked down at it. It was April's tessen.

"You better help April out with that thing. At the rate she's going, she won't last in a fight."

I looked up to glare at her before she turned and started to fly off.

"Wait!"

She froze in the air and turned to look at me.

"Was anything else you told me true?" I asked. "Was there anything else that wasn't a lie?"

Athena stared down at me, her large wings flapping continuously to keep her up. She closed her eye and turned her head away, as though she didn't want to answer. But...

"My first name wasn't always Athena... it used to be Lorelei, when I was human," her purple eyes glanced over at me. "But... my middle name really is Lilith."

And without another word, she shot through one of the broken windows and out of site.

"Nia!"

I whipped around. I could hear several sets of footsteps and yelling.

"Nia, where're you at?"

I turned my head and glanced up at the window Athena had flown out of before turning and sprinting out of the building.

* * *

"What the hell was she talking about?" said Raph.

"I don't know," I said. We had just gotten back to the lair and were sitting around the pit. I had already explained what had happened to Sensei and April, but that didn't help it make any more sense. "All I know is that she wanted an excuse to meet me, and she got it. But, I didn't understand any of what she was saying," I looked up at Splinter. "What do you think, Sensei?"

"I'm afraid I cannot say," he said. "This was an outcome that even I could not predict. But, you should tread more carefully the next time you go to the surface, Lavinia. Whatever Athena has in mind for you, it cannot be anything good."

"Hai, Sensei."

"Why did she take my tessen, though?" April asked. "Couldn't she have gotten you to just take a walk with her or something?"

"I don't think so," I said. "I think she figured that I was starting to suspect her of something. She had been acting very strange since the other day. She must've thought that her act was gonna fail sooner or later, so she must've wanted to end it on her own terms."

"So, she made she sure did something that would definitely make you go to her," said Leo. "Pretty clever."

I nodded. It seemed that Athena was a lot smarter than I thought, and for some reason that scared me.

"By the way," April said. "Why did you want to show me my tessen so badly?"

"Hm? Oh!" I straightened up. "Right! I completely forgot!"

I got to my feet and walked over to April. I reached into my pocket and pulled out her tessen.

"Well, I figured it would be hard for us to tell the difference between our tessens, and I tried making something kind of… well, just look."

I handed it to April and she took it. She held the closed weapon up, and then she blinked as her jaw fell slightly. I knew what she was looking at. On the side of her fan was her name carved into the metal and small, curvy writing.

"Open it," I said.

She looked at me for a second before she opened her tessen. She let out slight gasp. The little flowers on the fan that had once been white were now bright yellow.

"I did it yesterday," I said. "I thought you'd like it."

April looked down at her tessen for a moment before she looked up at me, and she was smiling.

"It's great," she said. "Thanks so much, Nia."

"Hey, Nia," Donnie spoke up. "Listen, I was wondering if I could borrow your feather for a second. I could try to run a few more tests on it, see if we could find out anything else about Athena."

I looked at Donnie for a moment before looking down at my right low ponytail. I had almost forgotten that it was there. I looked at it for a second before I reached up and pulled it out the ponytail. I didn't give it to Donnie. I just stood there, staring down at the thing. For nearly a month I kept this thing in my hair to remind me that someone was out there who cared about me enough to save me. For that amount of time I had wanted nothing more than to meet them and thank them. Now… I wasn't sure how to feel.

I looked up at Donnie, who looking at me curiously. Then I walked up to him and shoved the feather into his hands.

"Keep it," I said firmly. "I don't want it anymore."

Donnie held the feather in his hands as he stared at me. I could feel the others' eyes on me as I turned, exited the pit, and headed for my room.

* * *

**So, I'd like to officially thank a good friend and fellow writer of mine.**

**bluebarnowl**

**This lovely, wonderful person is the soul creator of our newest OC, Athena! They're the ones who gave me the character several months back, and we've both been working on introducing this possible antagonist for a while now. If you're reading this barnowl, I hope you love the way I have introduced your fasanating character.**

**Alright y'all, that's all I got for now. As of right now, I think the next thing to be updated will be 'Hicca and Her Dragon 2', but I can't be sure, and I can't be sure when. But, I will do my best.**

**You guys are the best fans ever! Please, please, please leave a review for me. It really helps me and motivates me when I see how you guys feel about my story. Plus, I love seeing how many reviews I've got on my work, it makes me so happy.**

**Love you guys! Byeee!**


	27. Enemy of My Enemy

Ch. 22  
Enemy of My Enemy

Another patrol night, just like any other. I don't know why, but all this patrolling was really starting to get to me. Now, I know that we were the only ones who knew about the Kraang and the only ones who could stop whatever they were doing, but couldn't they take a break for once? Was that really too much to ask?

"Nothing happening at TCRI," said Leo, who was looking at the building via telescope.

"Yet," Donnie added.

"Leo, nothing's happened for, like, a week," I said as I walked up for him. "And we've been out here for 4 hours. Do you think anything is gonna happen?"

"This game is awesome!" I heard Mikey say. "The combat is so realistic!"

I turned around and saw Mikey sitting on the roof, his legs crossed, and he appeared to be playing a game on his phone.

"You want me to make it more realistic?" Raph said, glaring down at his brother. He had been irritated about patrol too, so he was obviously in a bad mood.

"Guys, stop messing around," Leo ordered them.

"According to the Kraang's storage device that I decrypted," Donnie said, looking down at his phone. "Some kind of scouting ship is coming through the Kraang portal tonight."

"So we all have to stay alert," Leo said, emphasizing his words as he looked directly at Mikey, who still had his back turned to all of us, still playing his game.

"Uh, Mikey?" I said.

"I know, I know," he said, not looking at me. "Leo's the boss, blah blah blah, stay alert, blah blah."

"Yeah, you never know what could sneak up on you."

I froze. I hadn't said those words, but they were definitely coming from a girl. We all looked up at the water tower in front of us, and saw a figure standing up on it. It was Karia. _Oh God, not this girl again… _Karai leapt off the water tower and landed in front of us.

"Seriously?" I said. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Karai smirked at me. "Nice to see you too, Nia."

I glared at her. From beside me, Leo snorted.

"Cute, Karai. But, I'm not in the mood."

Karai narrowed her eyes as her smirk turned to Leo. A second later she pulled out her tanto and lunged at him just as he pulled out his own katanas. He blocked her attack and shoved her aside, stepping back in the process.

"We don't have time for this," Leo looked back at us. "Guys!"

At once we took out our weapons and ran at Karai, Mikey letting out a loud, "Booyakasha!" Donnie swung his staff down, but Karai leapt up and avoided it, leaping off of his shell and landing back behind us.

"Booyakasha?" Karai snorted. "What does that even mean?"

"I dunno, but it's fun to yell!" said Mikey.

He swung out his kusarigama chain at Karai, who avoided it and swung around and stepped down on the chain, the force causing Mikey to fly forward. Karai kicked him away and he fell on the ground. Leo lunged at her with his katanas, and she blocked him.

"You really know how to make a girl feel welcome," she said, shoving him back. "I can see why Nia sticks around."

Leo glared at her. Karai raised her tanto and pointed it at Donnie.

"I heard the scrawny one mention the Kraang. What's goin' on?"

"None of your business!" said Leo.

"And I'm not scrawny," Donnie retorted. "I'm svelte!"

Raph ran past us and started swinging his sais at Karai, who ducked and blocked every blow.

"Oh, come on, let me in on the fun," she said, sounding annoyed.

"Fun?" I asked. "You honestly think this is fun?"

"Well, it's bound to be better the crud I do every other day."

"Look, we're a little busy trying to stop the beginning of an _alien invasion _here," Raph said, his temper rising. "So, do us a favor and get lost!"

Suddenly, Karai's smirk disappeared as her face fell.

"An alien invasion?!" she asked, and for the first time since I had met her, she looked concerned. "Are you serious?"

But we had no time to answer, for at that moment thunder from the clouds rumbled loudly, and lightening flashed. It was enough to make us look out towards the TCRI building. As I looked I saw at the top of the building, what looked like metal doors opened up, and a large, silvery shape appeared. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but if I had to guess that was the scouting ship Donnie was talking about earlier.

"This can't be good," Leo said shortly.

I glared at Karai. "Does that answer your question?"

"Um, guys? I think I need to change my shell," Mikey muttered.

The scouting ship, one on an aimless course, suddenly changed directions and started heading straight for us. I stared up at it as I started backing away a bit, and so did everyone else.

"I hope you have a plan for fighting that thing," said Karai.

"Pfft! Of course I do," said Leo. "Step one… RUN!"

Without waiting for another say-so, I turned on my heel and started running across the rooftop, the others following behind me. There was a loud exploding sound as the ship fired at us. We all leapt off the roof and landed on the next one, and the ship fired again. I leapt of the ledge of the next roof and landed on the fire escape, the others doing so as well. We wasted no time in climbing down the ladders and landing in the alley. We all ran forward down the alley and rounded the corner, losing the ship for a moment.

"What the heck was that?" Karia gasped.

"I don't know," Leo panted. "But, off the top of my head, I'd say they use it for flying and shooting at things."

"Like at our shells!" Mikey screamed.

My feet skidded on the road as we ran into the street and Donnie yelled. We all turned in unison and ran into an alley. I noticed that Karai stayed back and suddenly disappeared, but I didn't pay attention to her. The boys disappeared behind a car and I followed them. I nearly past up the car when something grabbed me and pulled me down in front of the car. It was Leo.

"Shh…"

He and I both pressed our backs against the car, and as I looked over I saw the others leaning against the side of the car that was up against the wall. I looked up as I heard the sound of the ship passing over us, keeping my lips shut and not moving.

"You think it knows where we are?" Mikey whispered.

"Yeah, maybe," said Leo.

As soon as he spoke the car was suddenly lifted up into the air. We all looked up, and saw the ship hovering above us, the car in its grasp. We all screamed before leaping out of the way as the ship dropped the car right onto where we were sitting.

"Man, we gotta get underground!" Donnie said urgently.

"I'll draw their fire!" Leo said as he sprang to his feet and ran towards the ship, katanas in his hands. "Over here, cyclops!"

As Leo distracted the ship we all ran to the nearest manhole cover. Raph quickly grabbed it and yanked it away, and Mikey leapt up and fell through it, so did Donnie.

"Leo, c'mon!" Raph yelled.

I looked up to see Leo running back towards us, and so was the ship. I quickly jumped down first and I landed in the sewer next to Donnie and Mikey. A second later Raph landed beside us, and then Leo. We all looked up at the closed manhole cover, and we could hear the ship gliding over where we stood. I held very still, worried that if I moved an inch, they would somehow detect it.

"Over here," I heard Raph hiss.

I looked over to see him peering out of a sidewalk grate. We all walked over to join him and looked through the grate. The ship was still hovering in the alley, apparently looking for us. A second later the ship flickered, and then suddenly became invisible.

"Oh boy," I groaned.

"Oh, _great_," Raph said shortly. "'Cause it wasn't scary enough when we could see it."

In the distance the sound of police sirens could be heard, the subtle sound of a helicopter was mixed in with it.

"We better get outta here," said Leo.

We all turned and started running through the sewer tunnels.

* * *

"That Kraang ship is incredibly dangerous!"

"Gee, what gave that way?" I said sarcastically as I walked over to Leo. "The part where it shot at us or the part where it turned invisible?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "We've gotta figure out what its doin' here."

"Or," Raph piped up as he twirled his sais in his hands. "We could just skip to the part where we destroy it."

He stopped spinning his sais and spun around, stabbing them into the dummy. This cause the dummy to fall back onto the ground. Mikey kneeled down and picked the dummy up.

"You're pretty tough when they can't hitcha back," he said, frowning up at his brother.

Raph glared and raised his fist, and Mikey yelled as he held the dummy up as a shield. Raph lowered his hand and smirked at his little brother before looking back at the rest of us.

"So, what are we waiting for?" he said, punching a fist into his hand. "Let's load up the Shellraiser and challenge that thing to a rematch!"

"First, we need a way to find a ship that's invisible," Leo said smartly.

"I know!" Raph said, sounding clearly annoyed. "How 'bout we shoot into the air until we hit it!"

I raised my eyebrow. "Really? That's your best idea."

"Yes."

"That… doesn't sound too smart," Leo said, looking oddly at his brother.

"Yeah, Raph," Mikey said, smirking. "Not too smart, buddy."

Raph whipped around and raised his fist, and Mikey screamed and held the dummy up in defense once more.

"Actually," said Donnie as he walked up to them. "Raph's got something there."

"Yeah, Leo," said Mikey, and he used the dummy's hand to point at Raph. "Raph's got somethin' there."

Leo glared quietly at his little brother.

"But, instead of shooting objects, we'll shoot waves of electromagnetic radiation," said Donnie.

"Meaning…?" I said slowly.

"In other words, radar," Donnie reached behind him and pulled out something that looked like a small satellite. "I've built some radar beacons we can set up around town. If the ship gets near us, I'll get an alarm on my T-Phone."

"Good work, Donnie," said Leo. "Come on, guys. Let's split up and place those beacons."

Both he and Donnie started to walk away. Raph suddenly raised his fist and knocked the dummy out of Mikey's hands at last. Raph walked away with a smirk on his face, and Mikey glared at him before kneeling down and sitting the dummy up.

"You'll get him next time, buddy," he said kindly, patting the dummy's chest.

"Mikey!" Leo snapped.

"Loosen your kneepads, Leo!"

* * *

"You almost done, Leo?"

"Almost got it."

I stood on top of the large vent as Leo continued to attach a beacon to it. We had all split up; Raph went with Mikey, I stayed with Leo, and Donnie had gone off by himself.

"Here," said Leo as he finished setting the little thing up.

I bent over comically and looked at the little satellite thing.

"Looks good to me."

Leo took out his T-Phone and presses a button. "Tri-beca beacon installed."

"_That's the last of 'em," _said Donnie's voice. _"Raph and Mikey are finished, too."_

"See you back at the lair."

I glanced up behind Leo, and gasped.

"Leo, watch out!"

Before he could do anything I yanked out one of my kamas and lunged out in front of him, blocking the tanto blade that nearly collided with his head. I looked over the blades to see the smug face of Karai.

"You make sneaking up on people difficult," she said. "That's cool. I like a challenge."

I grunted as I shoved her away, quickly pulling out my other kama before charging at her. I raised both blades and swung them at her side, but she blocked it with her tanto. I spun around and aimed at her other side, and she blocked that too. She leapt up over me and I turned to see her run at Leo. He took out his katanas and blocked her oncoming blow.

"This is getting old, Karai," he said, sounding stern.

I looked up at Karai's face, and was surprised to see that her smirk had been replaced with a grin.

"I wanna help you fight the Kraang."

I blinked. "What?"

"You heard me," Karai brought her tanto down and placed it back in its holster. "I wanna help you."

"Really?" said Leo, surprised.

I slowly put away my kamas, wondering whether or not she had gone crazy. Leo looked at her, stunned for a moment, then his face fell as he put away his katanas.

"No, of course not," he said, and he raised his fingers as he marked off, "We're enemies, you wanna destroy us, you're loyal to Shredder… should I keep going?"

"He's gotcha there," I said, folding my arms as walked over to stand next to Leo.

"Look, if the Kraang win, we don't have a planet anymore," Karai said as she walked up to us. "That makes our little fight seem pretty pointless, doesn't it?"

"I doubt Shredder would agree," said Leo.

"Yeah, what's he got to say about this?" I asked.

"He won't even think about it," Karai said, and for the first time she looked angry. "Shredder is stubborn and shortsighted, he drives me crazy! His stupid vendetta is gonna take us all down! He might not be able to see that, but I know you guys do."

I glanced up at her, looked into her eyes, and froze. There was something there that I could believe I was seeing, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to see it. _She's telling the truth…_

Karai grinned again, and then raised her hand towards Leo. "What do you say? Work together for now?"

I glanced down at her hand and then over at Leo. He looked at her hand for a moment, then shook his head.

"Sorry sister, but we're not-"

"Hold it, Leo," I said.

Leo looked over at me, looking confused. I looked over at Karai, who was looking at me with curiosity.

"Give us a sec?"

She nodded. I put a hand on Leo's shoulder and pulled him a little ways away from Karai.

"Nia, what is it?" Leo whispered.

"Leo, I think she's telling the truth."

"What?"

"I know, it sounds crazy, but I think she's being for real now."

"Really, Nia?" he said. "After everything she's done you wanna trust her?"

I glared at him. "Says the guy who was so keen on trusting her before!"

Leo blinked and stared at me before glancing at the ground.

"Look, Leo, I don't know if I trust her either, but I think she really wants to help this time," I said seriously. "Besides, you can't honestly tell me you don't think she's telling the truth."

Leo looked up at me for a moment, then sighed and nodded.

"You're right."

He turned and walked back over to Karai, and I followed him.

"Well?" she asked.

Leo and I looked at each other, then at Karai.

"We'll… think about it," he said.

Karai smirked. "Fair enough," she said. "I'll be seeing you two around, then."

And then she turned and ran across the rooftop, leapt over the edge, and out of sight.

* * *

"Are you guys _nuts_?!"

It was the next day, and we were all sitting in the dojo. Leo and I had gotten the others, Sensei and April together and told them about what happened, and what we had told Karai.

"We didn't say that we would do anything yet, Raph," I told him. "We just told her we would think about it."

"Why would you even _think _about it?" Raph snapped.

"I know we shouldn't trust Karai," said Leo. "But, still! We just got the sense that she really is fed up with Shredder."

"_Really _fed up, judging by the way she was acting," I added.

"That's probably just what she wants you to think," Raph said.

"I know! But, eh…" Leo shook his head and looked up at Splinter. "Sensei, is there any chance that she's for real?"

"It is possible. Loyalties have been known to shift. But, the kunoichi is trained to use deception to her advantage," he looked over at me. "Isn't that right, Lavinia?"

"Hai, Sensei," I said. "But, speaking from a kunoichi's point of view, I think she was being pretty serious."

"Nevertheless, you cannot be sure what she will do."

"So, she either will or won't betray us?" Leo asked.

"Correct. You must trust your instincts," Sensei turned and headed towards his room. "But, beware the trap of believing something to be true simply because you wish it to be so."

"So, I should trust my instincts… unless my instincts are wrong?" Leo asked, sounding more confused.

"Correct."

Leo stared after him for a moment, then sighed.

"Thanks, Sensei…"

"Wow," Mikey breathed. "You know its good advice when you're still confused afterwards!"

"It's not that confusing," I said.

"Guys, seriously. An alliance with Karai?" said Raph. "No way! Why are we even talking about this?"

"We told her we would think on it, Raph," I told him. "And now we have."

"It's too bad we can't trust her," said Donnie. "It would be nice to have another kunoichi on our side."

"Um, hello! What about me?"

We all looked around to see April standing over us, hands on her hips. I bit my bottom lip as I looked over at Donnie, who looked suddenly nervous.

"No, I mean a real kunoichi," he said, and then he stuttered. "I-I mean, not that you're not a real one, just that Karai's… better? I-I mean-mean, not- not _better_, just- more experienced, eh… Is it hot in here?"

I snorted. "Nope, just you, dude."

"It's okay, I get it," April said sarcastically. "She's your mortal enemy, but hey! She's purtty!"

"No, she's not! You're _way_ prettier! I-I mean-!"

I cleared my throat and nudged Raph's shoulder to get his attention. He looked over at me and I nodded over at Donnie. He nodded. At the same time me and him stood up, walked over to Donnie and we each grabbed and arm, Raph covering Donnie's mouth. Donnie's voice was muffled as he stared at us in confusion.

"Don't fight it," said Raph. "You'll thank us later."

"We're doing you a favor, bro," I told him.

Donnie sighed and hung his head in embarrassment.

* * *

"Guys, I think I've got something," said Donnie as he looked own at his now beeping phone. "Doesn't match any authorized flight patterns… It's gotta be the Kraang ship!"

"Or Santa!" Mikey said excitedly.

I looked back at him. "Mikey, it's the middle of spring."

Mikey gasped. "He's early!"

"Oh, geez…" Raph groaned.

Leo turned the wheel and the Shellraiser rounded the corner before suddenly coming to a stop. There, right in front of us, was the Kraang ship.

"No, it's the Kraang ship," Mikey groaned. "Ugh, that's a bummer."

The ship hovered in front of us for a moment before it suddenly shot a giant laser at us.

"Move it, Leo!" Raph shouted.

Leo slammed his foot on the gas and the van went flying backwards, avoiding 3 more lasers.

"Guys, hang onto your shells!" Leo yelled. "Nia, hang onto _something_!"

I reached up and held onto the safety bars with all my might, trying to stay on my feet. The van twisted and turned as Leo sped up to avoid the shots the ship was firing at us.

"I think I've figured out its mission," Donnie screamed. "US!"

"Mikey, we need an escape route!" demanded Leo.

"Take the alley on the right!"

The Shellraiser suddenly turned sharply to the right and drove down an alley way. Then, it skidded to a halt.

"It's a dead end!"

"Mikey, what happened?" I asked.

Mikey looked closely at the map then said, "_Don't_ take the alley on the right!"

There was a loud bang as the Shellraiser was hit by some kind of force that nearly knocked it over. The ship had found us and was now firing everything it had into our van. The bangs got stronger and louder and the emergency lights started beeping.

"Any ideas, guys?" Leo yelled back.

"Just one!" Raph growled.

He got up out of his seat and ran to the back by Mikey, who whimpered and ducked and covered his head. Raph raised his fists and started punching and smacking Mikey's shell.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

I looked up at one of the TV screens and from the building above I could see something else coming near us, and it was coming fast. As it got closer I could see that it was a motorcycle, and someone was on it. Suddenly, the figure leapt off the bike and onto the Kraang ship. A second later the ship stopped hitting the Shellraiser and started floating away, the figure still on it.

"That was Karai!" Leo shouted.

"What?!" I yelled.

Leo suddenly put the van out of park, swerved it around and started speeding off after the ship that still had Karai on it.

"What's the plan?" I asked as I walked up to him.

"We've gotta go back and help her," he said firmly.

Raph ran up to the front next to me and snapped, "She can take care of herself. Let's put some distance between that thing and us!"

"No!"

"But the Shellraiser can't take another onslaught right now!" Donnie said seriously.

"Then I'll do it myself!" Leo unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of his seat. "Drive!"

The whole van swerved for a moment before Raph quickly got in the seat and grabbed the wheel. Leo ran past me and opened the hatch that lead to the Stealth Bike.

"I'll meet you back underground."

"Hey!" Raph shouted. "The Stealth Bike's _my _thing!"

"Now your thing is sucking it up," Leo snapped before leaping down the hatch and closing the door.

"Hey, that's _my _thing!" Donnie protested.

"When have you ever said that, dude?" I asked.

I looked up at one of the screens and watched as the Stealth Bike shot out from the Shellraiser and sped towards the Kraang ship. Now all we could do is head back under and wait for Leo to come back.

* * *

We were probably waiting on the subway tracks for about an hour before any sign of Leo came up. Raph was just sitting with his arms folded in the driver's seat, Donnie sat staring at his computer, and Mikey had actually fallen asleep. I was simply texting Angus when something finally happened.

"There he is!" Donnie said, pointing at a screen.

Before I could do more than sit up the hatch to the Stealth Bike opened, and Leo poked his head out.

"We're back," he announced as he got back into the van.

"'We'?" I asked.

Leo glanced around, rubbing the back of his neck. A second later, Karai suddenly appeared through the hatch as well.

"You brought her _inside_?!" Raph yelled incredulously. "_Dude_! She'll see all our gear!"

Karai straightened up and looked around the van curiously.

"Yeah. 'cause if Shredder finds out you have an ice cream lamp, it is _over_!" she said mockingly, smirking at Raph, who refused to look at her.

"Alright, I can understand helping her," I said as I walked over next to Leo. "But why bring her in here?"

"Karai just risked her life to save us," he said. "She's earned a little trust. Let's hear her out."

"You're the boss," Raph groaned irritably as he pushed down the throttle and the Shellraiser powered down.

I looked at Leo for a moment, then at Karai. She was standing there, arms folded, not looking at any of us. I sighed as I put my hands in my pockets.

"Alright," I said. "So what exactly is your plan?"

Karai looked up at me, then at the others. "You guys need my help. You really think you can shoot down an alien ship with garbage?"

"_Compressed _garbage," Donnie corrected irritably.

"_And _manhole covers," added Mikey.

Karai rolled her eyes slightly. "My point is, to take out a ship like that you need a real weapon."

"Oh, yeah?" Raph looked around at her. "Like what?"

Karai narrowed her eyes slightly. "What if I got you a shoulder fired missile launcher?"

Raph stared at her for a moment before looking at Leo and saying, "I'm startin' to like her."

"Big surprise," I said shortly.

"Where are you gonna get a shoulder fired missile launcher?" Donnie asked.

"Shredder, of course."

I raised my eyebrows. "Beg pardon?"

"You heard me," she said.

"Uh, we're talking about the same Shredder, right?" Mikey asked. "Big dude, lots of blades, _really _hates us?"

"Yeah, something tells me he's not gonna wanna share his toys with us," said Raph.

"He won't know about it," Karai said simply. "He's buying a big shipment of weapons at the docks tomorrow night. All we need to do is sneak in and help ourselves."

I glanced down as I thought it over. "Sounds simple enough…"

"A little too simple," Raph glowered. "Anyone else smell a trap?"

"Sorry, that was me…" Mikey muttered, looking embarrassed.

"Why would I trap you?" Karai said angrily. "You're the only ones who know what the Kraang are up to."

"True," said Donnie. "But, you don't really have the best track record."

"After what you've done, you can't blame them for being suspicious," I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Well, what about you, warrior princess?"

I glared at her slightly at the name-calling, but I thought about what she said. Yes, I believed that she really wanted to help, but was I really willing to get that close to Shredder? I looked around at the others, and they were all staring at me intently.

"Here's how this works," I said. "Either all of us go, or none of us go. And seeing as how none of them are keen on going, I guess I won't be going either."

Karai stared at me for a moment before turning away. "Fine! I'll get you the missile launcher myself!"

I didn't expect that. Hell, judging by the looks on the guy's faces, none of us did. Even Raph looked surprised.

"You're really willing to steal from Shredder?" Leo asked, amazed.

"Look, these things have to be stopped. If Shredder's not gonna do something about it, then I will, with your help or without it!"

Karai and Leo shared an intense gaze before he looked around at the others. Mikey and Donnie both nodded, and Raph raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. Leo then looked over at me, as though asking me my opinion. I looked over at Karai, who was looking at me patiently. I thought about everything that she had said, everything that she was willing to do, and then, I don't know why, I found myself grinning at her. She grinned back. I looked over at Leo and gave a firm nod.

"Alright, here's the deal," Leo said as he stepped towards Karai. "You get us the missile launcher, and we'll team up."

Karai smirked approvingly at Leo, who offered her a small smile. Then, at the same time, they both raised their hands and shook them.

* * *

Everything was set. Tonight was the night that Karai was going sneak the missile launcher away from Shredder and back to us. Everything had already been planned out. Karai would get the launcher, and would arrive at the location Leo decided on. Then, after that we would go off and find the Kraang ship and destroy it.

"Stoked!" Mikey squealed excitedly as he and Raph played on the pinball machine. "I can't believe we're gettin' a _missile launcher_! What should we blow up first?"

"Uh… the Kraang ship?" Raph said.

"Oh, right," said Mikey. "What should we blow up _second_?"

"I'm sure we'll find some use for it later, Mikey," I said as I walked up to him and leaned my elbow on his shoulder. "But, right now we need to get it and destroy the Kraang Ship."

"_If _Karai can pull it off," Leo said firmly.

I turned and looked at him. Leo had been acting strict and tense all day, and it had only gotten worse as the night progressed. He was currently practicing on the dummy, punching and kicking it a little more forcefully than usual.

"You cool, Leo?" I asked.

"I'm fine," he said shortly as he gave the dummy another hard kick.

"Are you worried about your _girlfriend_?" Donnie jeered teasingly. "I see why you guys do that now, it's kinda fun."

I chuckled as Leo glared at his younger brother, but he could not hide the fact that his cheeks had gone slightly pink.

"It isn't gonna be easy," he said seriously. "Shredder's gonna be there, too."

"C'mon, Leo," I said. "If there's one person who can figure out how to get past Shredder, it's Karai."

"Hey… Leo's right!" Raph suddenly turned away from the machine and walked over towards Leo. "For once, we know where Shredder's gonna be ahead of time! Which means… we could set a trap for him!"

"What?" Leo shook his head. "Look, we already made a deal with Karai, we can't just go behind her back. This is about that Kraang ship; they wanna take us out!"

"So does Shredder," Raph added. "This may be our only chance to take him by surprise, are we really gonna pass that up?"

I rolled my eyes. Of all the times Raph could come up with another rash and unthinkable idea, he had to do it now. I looked over at Leo, expecting him to be shaking head and saying 'no'. What I saw instead was him staring at the floor, clearly in thought.

"Oh, geez…" I groaned. "Leo, you're not seriously considering this, are you?"

Leo looked up at me. "Well… it's an idea…"

"An idea?" I shook my head. "No. We made a deal with Karai, we can't go back on it. We have to focus on the Kraang."

"We do this, and we can get Shredder out of the way for good," Raph said firmly.

"Okay!" I whipped around and glared at Raph. "Here's how it is; one the one hand, you've got the Shredder, who wants to destroy us. On the other, you've got the Kraang, who want to destroy us, _and take over the world_!" I placed my hands on my hips. "Tell me, which is worse?"

Raph narrowed his eyes at me before walking up towards his brother. "Leo, c'mon. If Karai had an opportunity like this to go after Splinter, she'd take it. Why shouldn't we?"

Leo looked at his brother, then over at me, then looked off into space, thinking it over. _Please Leo, don't…_

"Alright, guys. Let's take down the Shredder."

I blinked as I stared at Leo in surprise. I couldn't believe it. Leo, the one who wanted so badly for Karai to be on our side, was now going to stab her in the back. Was he really gonna do this?

"Well, if we're doing this then we might wanna go now," said Donnie. "She said that Shredder was gonna be at the docks around now, we need to get there before he leaves."

"Alright, let's go!" Raph said enthusiastically as he ran around Leo and towards the exit.

"Aw, man," Mikey whined. "So much for getting a missile launcher."

"Let's move it, guys," said Leo. "C'mon, Nia."

Leo went towards the exit as well, and Mikey and Donnie followed him. I, however, didn't move. I stood there and watched as the guys all went closer and closer to the exit. Leo must have noticed because he stopped walking and looked behind him at me.

"Nia, we're leaving."

He turned around and started walking again. I glared at the back of his head and took a deep breath.

"No."

Leo stopped again, and this time so did the other three. They were already at the turnstiles and had paused in going over them to stare at me. Leo turned around to look at me, and he stared at me in confusion.

"What?"

"You heard me," I said, folding my arms. "You guys wanna go break our deal, fine, I can't stop you. But I won't be a part of it."

I turned around, marched over to the pit, and sat down on the edge. For a moment there was silence, a tense and slightly awkward one. Was Leo going to say something? What would he do? What was _I _doing? Yes, Leo's my leader. Yes, I'm a part of this team. But… this wasn't just something that was wrong, it was going against my moral code. I never broke a promise and I never went back on a deal, and I wasn't going to start now.

There was silence for a solid minute before I heard movement behind me. I turned my head slightly and looked back. Raph was standing next to Leo, a hand on his shoulder. He gave a stiff nod, then Leo sighed.

"Let's go."

I heard footsteps as the others finally continued walking. A moment later I heard the door of the Shellraiser slam shut, and the engine came to life. I heard the sound of it driving off on the rusty subway tracks, and then it was gone.

My arms, which had been folded tight the whole time, finally loosened as I let out a low sigh.

_What am I doing?_

* * *

I looked down at my dimly lit phone. The time read 9:47. The boys have been gone for 3 hours and there still hasn't been any word back. Though, I doubt they would call me after the way I acted. I don't know what came over me. Hell, I haven't even moved since the boys left.

I sighed as I leaned over and buried my face in my hands. My palms pressed against my eyes and little stars appeared. What was I supposed to do now? This had never happened before. I've never disobeyed an order, and the boys have never gone out to the surface without me.

"Lavinia, where are your brothers?"

I raised my head, my vision blurry for a second, and I turned my head around. Sensei was standing there, looking slightly confused.

"They're probably down at the docks by now," I said as I turned back around.

"Really? I was under the impression that they were to wait for Karai."

"They were. But… they had a change of plans," I paused. "They decided to go after Shredder instead, Sensei."

There was a moment of silence. I heard footsteps as Sensei walked closer towards me.

"And you did not accompany them?"

I shook my head.

"Why is that?"

I rubbed my kneepads nervously as I bit my bottom lip. I had been sitting here for about 3 hours and I hadn't even thought about how Sensei was going to react to this.

"Because… Because…" I sighed and hung my head. "I don't know."

I heard more shuffling, and when I looked over I saw Splinter sitting down next to me. He looked down at me seriously.

"Lavinia, we both know that that is not the true answer," he said simply.

I blinked up at him, then folded my arms across my knees as I looked off into space.

"We made a deal with Karai, Sensei," I said after a few moments. "We made a deal with her. Don't get me wrong, she's not my favorite person in the world, but…"

I stopped again. Sensei didn't say anything, but waited for me to continue.

"Sensei, if I went back on a deal with _anyone_, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. And the fact that the boys did it without any problems is…" I sighed. "I just don't know. Sensei, if I had gone out with them, I'd be going against all I believed in- I'd be going against myself, and I couldn't… couldn't bare that…"

I sighed as I rested my chin in my hand. This had gotten so complicated. God, why did the boys have to go back on their word, why?!

"I understand, daughter," Sensei said softly. "There are some things we simply cannot do in this world. Some are more sever, others are simpler, but they all weigh the same in our hearts. It is how we deal with them that show how deeply we care about what is right and what is wrong."

I sat there for a moment, then looked up at him. "Sensei, do you… do you think I made the right choice?"

Sensei sighed as he put a hand on my back. "I am afraid the only one who can answer that is you, Lavinia."

I nodded. "I figured you'd say that."

"But, whatever answer you come to, know this; there will be some days when you will have to put your ideals aside and look at what is best for you and the ones who work with you, especially if it involves your enemy. You must tread carefully, my daughter. You cannot afford any errors."

I nodded. "Hai, Sensei."

Suddenly, from behind me I heard the sound of a distant engine, and the thudding of wheels against metal. I sat up and turned around. Sensei did as well.

"I believe your brothers have returned."

He was right. Within a minutes the noises got louder and louder until finally, the Shellraiser appeared by the exit. It skidded to a halt by the turnstiles and then powered down. The van dinged as the doors opened, and the boys started shuffling out. I knew instantly that something was wrong. If they had succeeded in what they went out to do, they'd be leaping and cheering. And yet, they shuffled slowly through the turnstiles, their heads hung in obvious shame.

Leo was the first to come through. As he did he glanced up, saw me and Sensei, and then stopped in his tracks. The others came up next to him and stopped too. I glared at them slightly before turning around and folding my arms. I could feel their eyes on me but I refused to look at them. Out the corner of my eye I saw Splinter stand up and then begin to walk towards the turtles.

"Welcome back, my sons," he said stiffly. "Did everything go as planned?"

I heard the boys muttering underneath their breaths, but I couldn't hear them.

"Well, Sensei…" Leo started. "It… um…"

"Oh wait, I forgot," Sensei said, his voice now stern. "You came up with a rash and dangerous new plan and decided to go on that instead. How did that go?"

I turned my head slightly so that I could glance back behind me. I could see Sensei standing in front of the boys, and Leo standing before him, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, about that…" he began again. "You see… we just, um…"

"Look, did you take out the Shredder or not?" I snapped as I turned completely around.

Leo and the others all looked at me, surprised. Leo was the first to recover. He sighed, hung his head, and shook it. I glared at them for a moment before I stood up and walked over to them, my arms still folded. Leo looked up at me, then looked away.

"You were right," he said. "We shouldn't have gone out."

"You're right about that," I said.

"At least we destroyed the Kraang ship," Donnie said lowly.

"What?"

"It showed up at the docks when we were fighting Shredder," Leo explained. "I was able to get the missile launcher and destroy it. It exploded and then fell in the river."

"And we nearly got blown up along with it," Raph growled. "Thanks to Karai."

"After the stunt you guys pulled, what did you expect her to do?" I asked irritably.

"You've got every right to be mad, Nia," said Donnie. "We shouldn't have done it, but…"

"Nia," Mikey muttered, looking up at me. "You're not _that_ mad, are you?"

I felt my tenseness falter slightly as I looked at him, then at the others. They all looked so sad and sorry about what had happened, I knew they regretted it. No, I wasn't _that_ mad at them, but I was still mad.

"You know I could never stay mad at you guys," I said. "But… Damn it, what you did tonight was ridiculous! It was stupid! And you almost got killed for it!"

"Lavinia is right," Sensei said firmly. "I am highly disappointed in you all. What you did tonight was foolish and disorderly."

"We're sorry, Sensei," Leo said lowly. "Really."

The other three nodded. Despite the fact that I knew how sorry they were, I was still pretty angry. I didn't know how angry- I've never been this mad at any of the guys- and I didn't want to end up doing or saying something I'd regret later.

"Sensei," I said. "If it's okay, I'd like go out for a bit. I'd like to be alone."

Sensei looked down at me, then at the boys. Then nodded.

"Very well. But, be careful, Lavinia."

I bowed to him. "Hai, Sensei."

I turned from him and started to walk around the others. Then Leo ran up and grabbed my arm.

"Nia, wait," he said. "Don't go by yourself. It's dangerous."

I reached over and took his hand off my arm.

"Don't, Leo. Just don't."

Before Leo could do more than stare at me I turned leapt over the turnstile.

* * *

I've been out for about 30 minutes now, and I've just been walking around the block with my hands in my pockets the entire time. I wasn't sure what to do, I just needed some time alone. Just me, my thoughts, and some of my music.

_**You're the light, you're the night  
Y**__**ou're the color of my blood  
**__**You're the cure, you're the pain  
**__**You're the only thing I wanna touch…**_

_**Never knew that it could mean so much…  
**__**So much…**_

My hoodie was blocking my prevail vision, but I could tell that no one was out tonight. It was late, most places were closed, and it was a school night.

_**You're the fear, I don't care  
**_'_**Cause I've never been so high  
**__**Follow me, to the dark  
**__**Let me take you past our satellites…  
**_

_**You can see the world you brought to life…  
**__**To life…**_

I turned the corner and walked into an alley. I sighed, and kicked an empty soda can out of my way.

_**So love me like you do,  
**__**Lo-lo-love me like you do…  
**__**Love me like you do,  
**__**Lo-lo-love me like you do…**_

_**Touch me like you do,  
**__**To-to-touch me like you do…**_

_**What are you waiting for…**_

Suddenly, I thought I saw something move and I froze. I yanked out one of my ear buds and looked around. I couldn't see anything, but I was sure I saw something. Leaving the one earbud out, I slowly turned around and continued walking.

_**I'll let you set the pace…  
**_'_**Cause I'm not thinking straight…  
**__**My head's spinning around,  
**__**I can't see clear no more…**_

_**What are you waiting for…**_

Then, I heard something move behind. I stopped walking for half a second before continuing on, not looking behind me. Slowly, I paused my music and stuff my headphones into my jacket pocket. For a second, there was nothing. Then, I heard it again. And again. And again. Whoever or whatever it was, it was getting closer and closer. Then, when it moved once more, I stopped. I let out an angry noise then whipped around as I yanked my hoodie off my head.

"I'm not in the mood, so just come on out!"

I stood there, waiting for someone or something to jump out from behind a dumpster or something. Was it the Foot? The Kraang?

"You're more observant than I thought."

_Karai…_

Then, from up in the fire escape, a figure leapt down and landed on the ground in front of me. The figure straightened up, and I recognized them immediately. It was Karai. I took a few steps back and snatched my tessen out.

"Look, Karai, I'm really not in the mood for this," I said angrily. "So, if you wanna fight, fine. Let's get it over with."

"Really? I come out and you think I wanna start a fight?" she asked incredulously, though it seemed slightly mocking.

"You saying you don't wanna fight?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

I scoffed. "Yeah, right! After the stunt my brothers pulled tonight I wouldn't be surprised if you tried to kill me out of spite!"

"Hmm… Hadn't thought about that actually," Karai said cuiriously, folding her arms as she leaned against the wall. "That's definitely an idea though. Mind if I use it?"

I stared at her for a second before I quickly opened my tessen, ready for a fight.

"Oh relax, warrior princess! It was joke!" she snapped as she straightened up off the wall. "I didn't come to fight you."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, not convinced in the slightest. "Why are you here?"

Karai didn't answer immediately. Then she unfolded her arms and took a few steps toward me.

"I came to talk."

Now that surprised me. In fact, I was so shocked I nearly got out of my battle stance. Karai wanted to talk with me?

"You wanna talk?" I asked, confused.

"Yes."

I looked at her for a moment, then glared as I said, "How do I know this isn't some kinda trick?"

"You're supposed to be the turtle's personal lie detector, you tell me," she said irritably.

She did have point there. Not moving from my stance I looked up into her eye, but I was surprised once more. For the second time since I had met her, Karai was being completely honest. _Seriously? Again? That's gotta be some kind of record for her. _Karai stared back at me, eyes narrow, but completely truthful. I stood there for about 5 more seconds before I finally straightened up.

"You just wanna talk?"

Karai nodded. We continued to stand there, staring at each other for a few moments. Then, I let out a soft sigh, and I closed my tessen and put it in its holster.

"Alright, fine," I said. "But, not here. Alleys aren't safe to hang around in at night."

Karai rolled her eyes. "Well where would you suggest we go?"

I turned my head and looked all around the alley. Then, my eyes fell on the fire escape. I walked over to it and leapt up as I grabbed the metal bars. As I climbed up a bit, I stopped and turned to look down at Karai.

"If you really wanna talk, and if it's really that important… then follow me."

I turned my head away and continued climbing up. Karai didn't respond, but I did hear the clashing of metal as she leapt up and started climbing, too. I reached the ledge and grabbed it, pushing myself up and over it. A second later Karai did the same thing, landing right beside me.

"Alright," I said, folding my arms. "You wanna talk? Talk."

Karai narrowed her eyes at me before folding her arms and turning away.

"Why?"

I blinked. "Why what?"

"Why weren't you there?" she asked. "At the docks?"

"The docks…?"

"The turtles were all there," Karai walked forward, not looking at me. "They went back on their word and they went after the Shredder. They stabbed me in the back and they didn't even blink an eye!"

I stared at her, hardly able to believe it. Karai didn't just sound betrayed… she sounded hurt.

"But, you…" Karai turned to look at me. "You didn't… you weren't even there. You probably didn't even leave your lair, did you?"

I shook my head.

"Why?"

I raised my eyebrow. "I take it you're not disappointed that at least one of us kept our bargain?"

"Of course not, but I'm confused," Karai said irritably as she unfolded her arms. "Your brothers went after the Shredder, but you didn't. He's your enemy too, yet you stayed behind… Why?"

I stared at her, one eyebrow raised, completely dumbfounded. Of all the things I expected her to say, this was not one of them. I shook my head.

"Karai," I said. "Of all things, do you really-?"

"Nia," she cut me off. "I need to know… please."

I stared at her, still surprised, but not dumfounded. _She really wants to know, doesn't she? _I sighed as I walked back to the edge of the roof and gently sat down.

"I already know what you're gonna say, but I guess I'll still tell you," I said. "I didn't go with the guys because… I didn't agree with what they were doing. They were going back on their word, and I didn't want any part in it."

Karai's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

"We made a deal with you, and I was gonna stick by it, even if the others weren't," I looked up at her seriously. "Look, I don't know about you, but I take my deals and my promises very seriously. If I went back on our deal it wouldn't just be bad to you, I'd be going against myself, too."

Karia slowly unfolded her arms as she stared at me.

"You didn't go because… because it went against your moral code?"

I suddenly felt hot around the ears as I rolled my eyes and turned my head away.

"Go ahead, say it," I said harshly. "It's a stupid and ridiculous reason, and if I had any sense I would've just gone off with them."

Maybe I was being a little too harsh, but didn't pay any mind. Heck, this whole evening had brought out a side of me that I didn't even know I had. I was angry at my brothers who I normally adored, I ran out of my home which was always a place of comfort for times like this, and now I was conversing peacefully with my enemy who I should be fighting with right now.

"No."

I blinked and looked up at Karai.

"Huh?"

"It's not a stupid reason," Karai walked over to stand in front of me. "In fact, of all the reasons that I had thought of, yours is probably better."

I stared. "You… don't think it's ridiculous?"

Karai shook her head, and to my surprised she turned and sat down next to me.

"No," she said. "In fact, I think your reason is quit admirable. A bit foolish, but admirable."

"Oh…" I glanced down. "Well… thanks."

There was a tense and awkward pause as we sat there in silence. _Geez, now what?_

"Erm… for what it's worth," I said. "I did try to stop them from doing it. I tried to keep them from going, but they wouldn't listen to me."

Karai looked at me for a second, then shrugged. "I guess I don't really blame them," she said. "I'd probably do the same thing."

"Figured you'd say that."

There was silence again, but somehow this seemed less tense than the last. It definitely felt less uncomfortable. Curiously, I looked over at her, and at the same time she looked over at me. Her mouth twitched, and I swore I thought I saw her smile. Not grin, not smirk, but smile. And I smiled back.

"You know…" she said. "Technically, the deal isn't completely broken."

"How so?" I asked.

"Well… you didn't go back on our deal, so when you think about it, it's still on between you and me at least."

I raised my eyebrow. I wasn't so much confused as I was curious.

"Go on…"

"Well, seeing as how you kept your word, I think it's only right that we keep the deal going, just between you and me."

"How so?"

"If, by any chance, we stumble on the Kraang- like, at a secret base or lab or whatever- then we would… go take care of it."

I sat there, thinking it over. It seemed pretty shady, but at the same time it didn't sound like a bad idea.

"And I'm guessing no one will know about this?"

"Of course not."

I narrowed my eyes. "How do I know you won't end up trapping me instead?"

Karai glared at me slightly. "Just because the deal between your brothers and me is off, doesn't mean I've stopped wanting to fight the Kraang. I want them gone just as much as you and I'm willing to do so by any means."

She did have a point. Enemies or not, our fight with the Foot clan was nothing if we couldn't even save the world from the Kraang invasion. Besides, there might be some smaller jobs out there that the guys might not want to do that perhaps Karai and I could handle it. Supposing I take up this offer, that is.

"So," Karai turned to face me completely and raised her hand up to me. "What do you say, warrior princess? Work together, at least for now?"

I looked at Karai then stared down at her hand. I still wasn't sure if I trusted her, but she had come all this way and, despite what my brothers did, despite the fact that we were still on opposite sides, she chose not to fight me. She's definitely earned some of my trust.

I raised my hand slightly towards hers, then paused.

"Just to be clear," I said. "None of this matters if we have to fight each other when we're not the Kraang."

Karai nodded. "Yeah. We're still enemies, right?"

"Right."

"So, if we see each other when we're not dealing with the Kraang, I will have to fight you."

"I know."

Karai and I shared an intense gaze for a few moments. It was like each of us were trying to make the other understand. But, I already understood; Karai was still my enemy, and as soon as the Kraang are defeated, that's all she'll ever be. But, for now…

I took a deep breath and let out a low sigh. Then I gave a soft, "Okay," before reaching up, grasping her hand, and shaking it.


	28. Karai's Vendetta

**Hey guys, it's me! I"ve got a special announcement! Okay, so about a month ago I met a new writer who was a fan of my stuff. We talked for a while, and after some thinking we decided to team up and create a story based on this one that I've written. Trust me when I say this guys, you don't wanna miss this. There's only one chapter, and it's just an intro chapter, but go look at it and see if you like the idea and we'll post a new chapter soon.**

**The writer's name is 'TheMysteriousSecretiveWriter'. The story is called 'The Interesting Life of Lavinia: The Movie'. Seriously guys, go check it out. she worked hard on it.**

* * *

Ch. 23  
Karia's Vendetta

**Karai's P.O.V.**

One of the benefits of that Kraang ship being destroyed is that one of the alien pilots had survived, and Shredder had decided not to finish him off in any way. In fact, for the first time since I mentioned the Kraang, he seemed interested in the aliens. He had brought the weird brain creature back to our lair, planning on interrogating it. From what I could tell, he wanted to know why they were after Nia and the turtles.

"Why were you hunting the turtles?" Shredder asked the alien, which he was holding by the head in the air.

The creature glared at him and screeched, thrashing his tentacles around frantically. I smirked.

"They don't talk much outside their little houses," I said, patting the droid torso next to me. It was the robotic piece that I had snatched that time I had followed the turtles into that Kraang lab full of all that animal DNA.

Shredder looked at me for a second before shoving the still shrieking Kraang into the droid piece. The alien thrashed around a bit before closing its eyes and going still. The robotic torso slowly started to power up, the head and all the severed arm and leg stubs wiggling around. The head lifted up, and the audio suddenly started up.

"K-Ka-K-Ka-Kraang is lacking the knowledge to answer the questions that the one known as Shredder is asking of Kraang."

Shredder stared down at the alien. "Do they all speak like this?"

"Even if Kraang is possessing the knowledge, the one known as Shredder will never be getting that knowledge from Kraang," the alien said.

I stared down at the thing amusingly as I raised an eyebrow. _Your funeral, freak._

"You didn't have any other plans for today, did you?"

Shredder turned back to face me. "Let's try again," he raised his hand, and a blade shot straight out of his gauntlet, and he brought it up to the alien brain's face. "Why were you hunting the turtles?"

The Kraang stared down at the blade, terror in its eyes.

"The ones known as 'the turtles and the girl' are protecting the lifeform needed by Kraang," the alien said fearfully. "The one known as April O'Neil."

It was then that I started to listen carefully. The turtles knew another human girl, besides Nia? How, and why?

"Who is this April O'Neil?" Shredder demanded.

"She is the one known as 'the one'. She is the link which is missing in plan which is the plan of Kraang."

"So, this April O'Neil is at the center of everything," I said simply.

"Then perhaps we can use her to draw the turtles out of hiding," Shredder moved his blade away and turned to look at me. "Karai, find this girl and bring her to me."

I smirked, giving in a small nod before standing up. But just as I turned to walk away I felt him put a hand on my shoulder and I stopped immediately.

"And, Karai," he said, and he sounded more serious this time. "Listen to me, because this is very important. After you bring April O'Neil to me, I want you to bring the turtle's companion here as well."

"Their companion?"

"Yes. That girl known as Lavinia."

For the first time in a long time, I felt surprised. In fact, for a moment all I did was stare at him. Was he serious?

"You want me to bring her, too?" I asked. "But, why? Why do you-"

"Karai," Shredder cut me off. "There is more going on than you know, and for now you do not need to know. All you should be concerned about is doing what I command of you, and what I command is for you to bring in this April O'Neil girl, and that girl Lavinia. Do not disappoint me."

I felt my brows crease as I looked up at him. I didn't need to know? What the hell? Why couldn't he just tell me? Why did he need Nia?

"No problem," I said shortly.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

Training today was going fine, as usual. It was one of the few session were we all just kinda went at each other. April was training on the sidelines with Master Splinter, who was helping her with some moves. Donnie and Leo were kind of going at each other, while me, Raph and Mikey sparred with each other.

"Temporary truce?" Mikey whispered as he got up, having just recently been knocked down by Raph. "Just until we take him out?"

"Sure," I said, slipping my kamas into my belt.

Mikey straightened up and turned around as we both faced Raph, who was so busy gloating that he hadn't noticed what me and Mikey said.

"Whatcha gonna do?" he taunted. "Whatcha gonna do? _Whatcha gonna do?_"

Raph smirked at us for a moment before leaping up and shooting down towards us.

"Mikey, grab 'im!" I shouted.

At the same time, me and Mikey ducked down and reached up, each of us grabbing one of Raph's arms before we threw him back over behind us. He landed on the ground with a loud thud and his sais flew out of his hands.

"Booyakasha!" Mikey cheered, running up to Raph and taunting him. "You got faced! Thought you had us, but we played you like a trambone! _Wah, wahh, waaah…!_"

I laughed as I folded my arms. Suddenly, I felt something by my feet, and the next thing I knew I was knocked to the ground. I grunted as I looked up and saw Raph holding Mikey in a death grip.

"Play time's over, tough guy!"

Raph spun around, lifting Mikey up into the air. Mikey kicked his legs and flailed his hands, because that was all he could move.

"Put me down!" he yelled. "Enough! Uncle!"

"I don't see yah tappin' out!"

"I can't… move my… arms!" Mikey choked out, still feebly kicking his legs.

Raph wasn't having any of it.

"Then tap your horrible, _disgusting_ middle toe!" he demanded.

Grunting in pain, Mikey slowly lifted his left leg up and tapped his green, middle toe. Now satisfied, Raph released his brother, who fell down right on his shell. As Raph walked away, Mikey sat up and quickly reached for his foot.

"Don't worry, Stubby," he said sweetly, then glared at his older brother. "You're not as horrible as he says. You cool, Nia?"

"I'm good," I said as I sat up.

"Michelangelo," Splinter said as he walked towards his son. "Why did you give up so easily?"

"There was nothing I could do," Mikey said, as though it were painfully obvious.

"There is always something you can do," Splinter explained. "Observe. Raphael, kannuki jime!"

Raph stared at Splinter for a moment, confused. Then he rolled his eyes as he walked over behind him, wrapped his arms around his middle, and then lifted him into the air, grunting harshly.

"The key is to unbalance your opponent," Splinter explained.

"But, _how_?" Mikey asked.

"However you can. For example…"

Then, to my surprised, Sensei leaned his head back and suddenly licked the top of Raph's head. Raph stopped moving completely for a moment, his eyes wide. Then he yelled as he dropped Sensei, who quickly turned and knocked Raph off his feet. The turtle landed in a heap in front of us, groaning. I placed my arms around my stomach as I burst into laughter.

"You see?" Sensei said over my laughing. "There is always a way. Ugh… and you need to take a bath," he added, glaring slightly at Raph.

I snorted as Raph groaned in pain.

* * *

**Raph's P.O.V.**

You know, Leo's really starting to tick me off with his stupid 'Space Heroes' crap. I mean, me and the others were just sitting in the pit doing our own thing, and he comes in and turns that stupid show on. Whatever, it's easy to ignore it nowadays. Heck, when we were younger Leo used to turn the volume up so loud I couldn't even hear myself talk, let alone think.

While ignoring the lame cartoon, I sat on the couch feeding some lettuce to Spike. Leo and Mikey were both sitting on the ground, the dumber of the two chowing down on shrimp and sardine pizza while the other turned the volume up. I rolled my eyes and turned away. I saw movement out the corner of my eye and turned to see Nia coming out of her room. She was wearing her usual black shorts and white hoodie, but she wasn't wearing her mask, or her elbow and knee pads.

"Goin' somewhere?" I asked as she walked into the living room.

"Gee, what gave it away?" she teased. "Yeah, I'm gonna go hang out with Vanessa today. I was just about to go."

"Whatcha guys gonna do?" Mikey said through a mouth full of pizza.

"I don't know, actually," said Nia. "She wouldn't tell me, says it's a surprise. What're you guys up to?"

"Oh, well you see," I said in mock enthusiasm. "We're watching this totally terrific 'Space Heroes' episode that isn't super lame in any way! Doesn't that sound great?"

Nia chuckled as Leo groaned in irritation. I smirked as I continued to feed Spike. Leo turned completely away from me and turned the volume up even more.

_The image of the Space Heroes ship appears, in the middle of space. The camera snaps to a scene of the crew, looking distraught, then a screen appears, with an ugly alien holding what appear to be hostages._

"_The landing part is under attack by the Digesters!" shouted Cranshaw. "We have to save them!"_

_Captain Ryan slaps Cranshaw across the face._

"_If we keep bailing them out, they'll never learn to take care of themselves," said Captain._

"_But, this is there first mission, and they don't even have weapons!"_

"_Then, they better learn fast."_

_Suddenly, a woman starts screaming a sickening crunching sound issues, followed by a loud snap._

"_Say, Dr. Mindstrong, weren't you in love with that one?" Captain asked._

"_I… was, Captain," Dr. said sadly._

"_Well, it looks like you both learned a lesson today."_

"And, with that, I'm out," Nia said. "Bye guys."

"Later, Nia," I said.

I looked down at Spike as Mikey and Leo turned back to the TV.

"Oh, Leo," Nia called back. "You might wanna turn the volume down a bit. You don't want Sensei telling you off again, do yah?"

"Ah man, you're right!"

I rolled my eyes. _Typical. Always does what he's told._

"Hey… where's the remote?"

I turned my head and saw Leo crawling around, apparently looking for the remote.

"Where'd it go?" he said. "Mikey, are you sitting on it again?"

"Naw!" Mikey choked, his cheeks now filled with pizza.

"Raph-"

"I've been sitting here the whole time, Leo," I cut across him. "So lay off, I don't have it."

"Then who does?!" Leo asked angrily.

"Oh, c'mon, Leo," Nia said. "If I knew you'd get mad I wouldn't have taken it."

I blinked for a moment, then turned my head in Nia's direction. She was standing at the edge of the pit, one hand on her hip, the other holding the bright red TV remote.

"How did you…?" Leo's voice trailed off.

Nia giggled. "This show is very distracting for you, Leo. You need to work on that."

I covered my mouth as I snorted. Man, I love it when Nia messes with Leo. It's awesome!

Leo stood up and walked over to Nia.

"Haha, very funny," he said. "Now, come on, give it back."

"Well, alright. If you insist…"

Nia smirked, then suddenly tossed the remote over Leo's head. I reacted instantly and leapt up and grabbed it. I looked at the remote, then up at Nia, and she winked.

"She's all yours, Raph!"

And with that, she patted Leo on the head before turning and running off. Leo shook his head and then yelled after her.

"Hey, wait! You-!"

But, she just laughed and leapt over the turnstiles.

" 'Atta girl, Nia," I cheered as I flopped back on the couch and pressed the channel button.

"Raph, give that back," Leo said.

"No way, man!"

"Hey guys!" I looked up and saw Donnie poking his head out of this lab doors. "Guess what April and I have been up to?"

We all sat there, completely silent, staring at him.

"That's right! Analyzing sewage!"

I rolled my eyes. "Who says you can't show a girl a good time?"

Donnie's face fell as he glared at me. "Very funny. C'mon, you gotta see this."

Donnie turned and walked back inside his lab. I turned off the TV as me and the other two got up and went into the lab as well.

"Alright, Donnie," Leo said as we approached his desk. "What is it this time?"

"April and I were going through some files on the Kraang storage device," Donnie said. He and April walked towards us, and I saw Donnie carrying a large jar of what looked like water, but it was kind of green. "We found out they're using a special process to change Earth's water into Kraang water."

"They've already started the process," said April. "We found a low concentration of Kraang chemicals in the sweage."

"Woah…" Mikey said, staring at the jar in amazement.

"And I take it that's a bad thing?" I asked, but I'm pretty sure what the answer was.

Donnie didn't answer. Instead, he reached over and picked up a slice of Mikey's pizza.

"Watch what happens when I dip this slice of Mikey's shrimp and sardine pizza into pure Kraang water."

Donnie raised the slice above the jar and then slowly lowered it until the pizza was half submerged in the water. At once, it started to sizzle and dissolve into smoke. Mikey squeaked in terror as Donnie pulled out what was left of the pizza slice.

"How do you sleep at night?" he demanded furiously.

"Presumably, there's only a tiny bit in the water supply," Donnie said, ignoring our little brother. "But, the concentration is increasing. Which means-"

"Every slice of pizza in New York will be destroyed?!" Mikey said, horrified.

I shook my head. _Geez._

"Along with anyone who uses water," April said seriously.

Mikey shook his head. "I don't wanna live in a world without pizza!"

Without warning, Mikey grabbed the pizza box that was laying under the jar of Kraang water and snatched it out. The jar flew into the air, the water flying out towards April.

"Look out!" Donnie shouted.

The jar fell and shattered, and the water fell onto April's arm. We all screamed and Donnie cried, "No!" April winced as her hand curled into a fist. But, after a few seconds, we realized that nothing was happening. And April didn't appear to be in any pain, because she opened her eyes and stared down at her arm.

"Huh? Wha…"

"Nothing happened to you," Donnie said, amazed.

"Maybe it's 'cause she's not made outta pizza," said Mikey.

Before I could even think about smacking my little brother, Donnie's computer started beeping. We all turned to look at it as Donnie ran forward and looked at the screen.

"The scanner's located the Kraang facility transforming the water supply," he said. "Which is right here. We gotta stop it!"

"Looks like we got a mission," said Leo. "You coming, April?"

"Sounds like a blast, but unfortunately, it's on the bottom of the East River," she said as she picked up her bag. "And, equally unfortunately, I have an essay due. Plus, I wouldn't mind a little human food."

"Pizza's human food," said Mikey.

April grinned. "Not the way you eat it."

"Wow, wow, wow, y-you're goin' top side?" Donnie crawled over his desk, tripped, and fell on the ground. "Oof! You got your T-Phone, right?"

"Donnie, don't worry," said April. "I'll be fine."

She smiled at Donnie before turning and walking out of the lab. Donnie stood up and watched as she walked away. From beside me, I heard Mikey let out an irritated noise.

"Pff! Human food! Nia likes the way we eat pizza. Heck, she eats it the same way!"

"Hey, where is Nia anyway?" Donnie asked.

"She left a while ago to go meet up with Vanessa," said Leo.

"Hang on," I said as I reached behind me for my phone. "I'll call her, tell her to come back and-"

"No!" Donnie said quickly. "This… this is perfect! If Nia is in the city, that means she'll be close enough to April to make sure that's she's safe. _It's brilliant!_"

I raised my eyebrows, staring at Donnie. Why Nia continued to support him in this pursuit of April, I'll never know.

"Leo, maybe Donnie's right," I said. "I mean, not about having her tail April all day, but, she can keep things in check while we're gone. She can keep an eye out for anymore Kraang or even Foot."

Leo looked at me for a moment as he thought it over. Then he nodded.

"Alright," he said. "I'll give her a call and tell her to keep watch while she's out. In the meantime," he turned towards Donnie. "Donnie, how are we gonna get out there?"

"Don't worry, guys," he said. "I've been working on something that's pretty awesome…"

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

I stood there, staring up at the large shop sign. The words read 'Forever 21' in large black letters. I lowered my gaze down to the beaming, hazel-eyed girl standing in front of me, her arms held out as though she were presenting something.

"Why are we here?"

"Uh, duh!" Vanessa said obviously. "We're shopping!"

I blinked.

"We're- Hey!"

Vanessa snatched my wrist and quickly started leading me towards the large double doors.

"I'm so psyched to come here now," she said excitedly as she pulled us through the doors. "The store's been under some construction and it's been closed for the past 3 months. It just opened Saturday. Isn't this great?"

"Yeah," I said. "I think so."

Vanessa slowed down and finally stopped walking. She turned to face me, and her excitement had faded into understanding.

"I know that this probably isn't your thing," she said sweetly. "You and the guys are more action than anything. But, I think it would be great for us to do something simple and fun together. What do yah think?"

_She's got a point, _I thought. _It would be nice to do something a little simpler._

"Okay, why not?" I said.

Vanessa beamed and clapped her hands together. "Nice! Lets shop!"

"Oh, but," I smiled sadly. "I don't have any money."

"No worries, I gotcha covered."

"Oh no, I couldn't-"

"Yes, you can," she said simply. "Tell you what. Buy at least one thing, and that'll be fine. And afterwards, we can head over to Angus' place. Play video games, order pizza, it'll be great."

I had to admit, that did sound very fun. And, seeing as how I didn't have anything else going on today, I couldn't see the trouble in it.

"Alright, deal," I said.

"Awesome!" said Vanessa. "C'mon, this way. There's this new tanktop I've been dying to look at."

I rolled my eyes as I followed my giggling friend deeper into the shop. As I followed her I looked all around the store. I had to admit, the stuff in here looked pretty sweet. Some of it seemed a bit flashy, but most of it looked great.

Suddenly, my pocket started buzzing as my phone went off.

_That's Leo's ringtone. _I quickly took out my phone and hit the green button as I pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hey Leo, what's up?"

"_Hey Nia. Listen, where are you right now?"_

"I'm at the store with Vanessa."

"_Okay, listen. After you left Donnie found out about a new plan that the Kraang are up to."_

I frowned slightly. What were those freaks up to now? I turned my head to look at Vanessa, who was now examining some shirts on their hangers. I took a few steps back and turned my back to her.

"What are they up to?

"_They're using chemicals to change our water into Kraang water," _Leo explained.

"And I'm guessing that's not a good thing, huh?"

"_Not unless you think people can drink acid-water. The stuff dissolves anything it touches. Donnie found a small supply in the sewage water, but it's getting bigger by the minute. But, we were able to find the facility where they're changing the water."_

"Where?"

"_At the bottom of the East River. We're heading there right now."_

"How're you guys gonna get down there?" I asked.

"_Don't worry, we got that covered. Listen Nia, we want you to stay in the city. Keep an eye out for any Kraang or the Foot, keep them in check. Think you can handle that?"_

I nodded to myself. "Yeah, I got it. And, hey… be careful."

"_We always do. We'll see you later."_

"See yah. Good luck."

I lowered the phone and hung it up as I stuck it back into my pocket. I let out a low sigh. I hope the guys will be okay. I don't like it when they go off without me, I always worry that something bad will happen to them.

"Hey Nia, come check this out!" Vanessa called out from behind me. "This shirt would look great on you!"

I turned my head to look back at Vanessa. I didn't want her worrying about me, so I just grinned as it turned and walked back towards her.

* * *

**Donnie's P.O.V.**

"This… is not… awesome!"

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore Raph, along with the heavy huffing and breathing from the other two.

"Seriously, Donnie?" said Leo. "A submarine powered by bicycles?"

"You know what would've been more officiant? Swimming!" Raph grunted.

_Will these three ever stop complaining? Seriously!_

"Hey, pipe down guys!" I told them. "Kinetic energy is the only way to charge the engines, which should be done… right about… now."

I flipped some switches and pressed the power button, and the engines came to life. The submarine started to zoom through the water with ease, going much faster than before. I heard the squeaking of the bikes stop, and my brothers sigh with relief.

"We're almost there," Leo breathed. "Up periscope."

I smirked as I pressed a small button that activated the periscope. I didn't need to look to know that Leo wasn't amused.

We had been searching for about half an hour now. Based on my tracker we were almost at the facility. Just then I glanced through the glass window and saw something move. I frowned and then looked closer. What I saw made me stare.

"Uh, Donnie?" Leo asked. "Any chance this Kraang facility looks like a giant sea mutant?"

"Oh, that's not a mutant," I said, not taking my eyes away from the window. "Based on his physiology, I'd say the Kraang brought him here from Dimension X."

"How is that less horrifying?"

"It's not, I just like to be accurate."

"Well, whatever it is, it looks like it's guarding _that_," said Raph.

I looked back out the window and looked further into the water. I saw something that did not look like a sea monster. It was the Kraang facility.

"Let's go stealth," Leo said lowly.

It was easy enough to get that sea monster distracted, and it was easier still to get the Kraang guards distracted. All we had to do was block the chemical filter with a rock, and they came swimming out to try and fix it.

While they were distracted, we took the opportunity to sneak into the facility. I parked the Turtle Sub above the top of the facility and stopped it. We all jumped through the hatch and swam out into the sea. It wasn't hard for

"We're in," I whispered.

As we stood up I saw movement from outside the glass wall and looked up. It was the monster.

"And that thing is back," said Raph. "How're we gonna get outta here?"

"We'll worry about that later," Leo told us. "Right now, we've got bigger fish to fry."

"I don't think we're gonna find a bigger fish than that," said Mikey.

The other two and I groaned irritably as we started walking away.

"What?! C'mon, that was good! You gotta give me that one!"

"We're not giving you anything, Mikey," Raph said irritably.

We continued through the facility in complete silence after that. I leapt up to the upper level along with the others and we snuck across it. The room we were in was completely filled with droids.

"Okay, we have to be quiet," Leo whispered.

"Do you have to say that every time?" I hissed. "We're _ninjas_! We know how to be quiet."

As soon as I stopped speaking, my T-Phone suddenly started to ring, and very loudly. I inhaled sharply as I froze where I sat.

"Ooh! That is embarrassing!" said Mikey.

I heard the sound of weapons powering up before I leapt out from my hiding spot. The others did as well. Dodging the oncoming fire, I pulled out my phone and saw that it was April, and I quickly pressed the answer button.

"April! Hi! It's not a great time!" I shouted as I dodged the Kraang lasers.

"_Donnie, Karai's after me!"_

I suddenly stopped moving.

"What?!"

Then, out of nowhere, Leo lunged at me and knocked me to the ground just as the Kraang started firing at me.

"Karia's after April!" I told him. "We gotta help her!"

"And who's gonna help us?!"

The Kraang started firing at us again, and Leo and I leapt away from each other to avoid being hit.

"April, I'm sorry, w-we can't get there!" I said. "Don't you worry! Just stay calm… AND RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

A droid blasted in front of me and I skidded to a halt. I quickly ran up to the robot and leapt up, kicking it down with both feet. I withdrew my Bo staff and swung in around, knocking two more droids onto the ground. I squeezed the staff, the blade shot out, and I shoved it into one of the droids heads.

I looked around to see that the others were taking care of the rest of the droids. _April… _I quickly took my phone back out and began dialing her number.

"Donnie, focus!" Leo ordered. "April can take care of herself!"

"Against Karai?" I snapped. "Are you kidding?! I gotta help her!"

"You're not gonna be much help if you get blasted in the head!"

Just as he spoke a droid fired at me, and I had to duck my head to avoid it.

"Good point."

I took my Bo out and knocked a nearby droid off of its feet. Leo sliced another droid in half, and I swung my staff and hit the alien brain so that it went flying across the room. I looked in time to see Mikey leap in and sweep his leg out from underneath the last two droids, knocking them down.

"That's a twofer!" he said happily. "Thank you, and thank you…"

As he stood there gloating the two droids got back onto their feet, standing behind him. Then, out of nowhere, Raph leap down and knocked the droids back down, stabbing them with his sais. Mikey turned around and grinned down at our older brother.

"And thank you."

Raph was not amused, and stomped over to Mikey with anger in his eyes.

"How many times have I told yah?" he said angrily, and he started poking Mikey's head. "No celebrating 'til the fight is over!"

Mikey glared up at Raph as he slapped his finger away.

"How many times have I told _you _I assumed it _was_ over?"

Mikey glared still as he reached forward and poked Raph's chest. Raph grabbed his finger and bent it. It make a cracking sound and Mikey cried out. _Okay, this is ridiculous!_

"Children, children! We have to go!" I said urgently.

"Um, have you forgotten about a little something called 'completing the mission'?" Leo said irritably.

"But April's in danger!"

"If we leave now, the Kraang will poison everyone in New York," Raph said angrily. "Which, last time I checked, includes April. And, now that I'm thinking about it, Nia's in the city too, isn't she?"

I frowned. He was right. My sweet princess and my sister were both in the city right now. Wait a second… they're both in the city.

"God… I'm so stupid!"

Ignoring the confused looks the others were giving me I pulled out my phone and typed in Nia's number.

"Donnie-"

"Just give me a second!"

The phone started ringing and I grinded my teeth impatiently. _C'mon, c'mon…_

"_Hey Don, what's up. I-"_

"Nia!" I cut her off. "Listen to me, were are you right now?"

"_I'm with Vanessa, we were just leaving the store," _she said, and now she started to sound concern. _"Donnie, what's wrong?"_

"It's April. Karai's after her!"

"_What?!"_

"Nia, we can't help her right now. We're at the bottom of the East River! You gotta go help her!"

"_Well, how do I find her?"_

"There's a tracker in your T-Phone," I explained. "You can use it to find where she is, but you gotta go now! She's no match for Karai!"

"_I'm on my way."_

And with that, she hung up. I took a deep breath as I lowered my phone and put it back into my belt, trying to relax.

"So… where were we?"

"Oh, _now_ you wanna do the mission," Raph said irritably.

"Not the time, Raph," said Leo, then he looked at me. "Think, Donnie. How do we take this place out?"

I looked around the facility. "Well, eh… the chemical is highly explosive…"

"How do you know that?" Mikey asked.

"Partly, because it has a hydro-carbon on its outer ring," I explained, though it probably just went in one ear and out the other. "And partly because of that sign," I added as I pointed at a sign that showed a Kraang brain being blown up.

I looked around the room and found a Kraang blaster right by my feet. I reached down and picked the blaster up.

"Raph, you think you can get this blaster opened for me?" I asked.

"Gladly," he said as he confidently took out his sai.

"But, before you do, be careful you don't-!"

But the shellbrain completely ignored me and shoved his sai down onto the gun. I gasped and turned my head away, waiting for an explosion. When it didn't happen, I opened my eyes and looked down to see the blaster sitting in my hands, opened and ready.

"Oh, good. We're still alive," I sighed. "Now, I'll shortout the power supply and leave it by the chemical tank. It'll over heat and the whole place will go boom!"

"Alright, victory dance!" Mikey yelled happily.

He stepped up and got into position to start dancing. _Oh shell no._

"MIKEY!" we all screamed.

Mikey flinched and slowly turned to look at us.

"Or… maybe later."

"Okay, I'm gonna have to jump up to get to the chemical tank," I said. "Leo, Raph, get under it and help give me a boost."

They nodded and walked over by the chemical tank. They reached up, gripped each other's arms and locked them into place. I took a step back before sprinting forward towards them. When I reached them I raised my foot, stepped onto their arms, and pushed myself up towards the chemical tanks. I instantly shoved the blade of the blaster into the tank as I fell down and landed on my feet.

"There, in about 90 seconds this whole place is gonna blow!" I said, and I pulled my phone out and dialed April's number.

"Alright, let's move!" Leo ordered.

As we started running towards the hatch I heard the other line pick up.

"April, what's your status?"

"_Could be better!"_

"Don't worry, I called Nia and she's gonna come help you," I said. "Just stay calm until she gets there."

"_I'll try!"_

"Okay, we're on our way. We'll be there soon!"

_BAMB! _I whipped around to see that something had burst through the hatch doors. It was the sea monster. I reared its ugly head and screeched at us. We all screamed.

"Actually, there might be a slight delay."

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

I sprinted across the rooftops, my ponytails whipping around my face. I reached the ledge and leapt off, going across and landing on the next roof. As I continued running I looked down at my phone. It had taken me some time to figure out how the tracker worked, but once I had found it, it was easy for me to use it.

I looked at the tracker and saw that April was only a block ahead of me now. I quickened my running and leapt over the next roof. I was worried; worried about April, and what Karai wanted from her. I knew it couldn't be anything good, but still. Why would Karai go after April? And why in the middle of the day?

After a few moments I finally landed onto another roof and skidded to a halt. I looked down at my phone and it showed me that April was very nearby. I looked around, wondering where to go now. Then, from somewhere beside me, I heard a voice.

"You've got guts; let's see if I can pound that out of you."

That was Karai's voice. I looked over to my side before running towards the other end of the roof. I reached the edge and leaned over to look. What I saw surprised me. I saw April and Karai, both standing several feet from each other. April had both of her fists raised, ready for a fight. Karai stood in front of her, holding something in her hand that I realized was April's tessen. Karai tossed it to the side and it made a clanging sound. April suddenly ran forward, fists raised, and aimed a punch at Karai's face. Karai blocked it. She blocked another one, and another, and another. April tried to punch again, Karai dodged it, but April spun around, raised her leg, and kicked Karai in her face. I inhaled sharply. Karia paused, wiping something from her lip, then she smirked at April.

"Good one,"

"Glad you enjoyed it," April said angrily.

"Now it's _my _turn."

Karai swiftly raised her fists and spread her feet as she got into a fighting position. This was getting dangerous, I had to act now. But before I could figure out what to do April suddenly ran forward. Karai swung her leg out and kicked April in the chest, sending her back to the ground. She barely had time to get up before Karai ran forward and kicked her again, this time sending her straight into the wall. _Alright, that's it! _Without hesitation, I leapt off the edge and headed straight for the ground below. I landed on my feet with a loud thud, and I looked up to see Karai practically pinning April against the wall as she started delivering punch after punch on her. I sprang to my feet.

"Karai!"

Karai stopped and turned to look at me. April groaned and slid down onto the ground. There was a moment of silence as I stared at the Foot kunoichi. It seemed weird that, just a week ago, I had formed a secret alliance with this girl. But, that was a whole other matter. We both knew that if we met in a situation like this that we would have to fight each other, and I was ready to do so.

Karai looked at me for a moment, then smirked.

"I was hoping I'd run into you, Nia," she said.

"Leave her alone, Karai," I walked towards her. "If you wanna fight someone, fight me."

Karai's eyes narrowed as her smirk widened. Then she turned her head to look at April, who was still on the ground.

"Do yourself a favor, O'Neil, and stay down," she said. "The big girls are playing now."

April glared up at her, but Karai had already turned back to face me. We stared at each other for a few moments before we both, at the same time, got into a fighting stance. Another few moments silence. Then, Karai charged at me super-fast, and I tightened my fists. She aimed a downward blow at my head, but I shifted to the right and dodged it. She quickly aimed another hit at my face, but I blocked it. I tried the hit her chest, but Karia blocked that. She shoved me back and aimed a kick at my chest, but I ducked and avoided it. I quickly reached up and grabbed her ankle, twisting it so that she flipped and fell on her chest. She grunted angrily and suddenly snapped her foot, kicking me in the jaw. I stumbled back a bit, caught off guard, and was suddenly knocked off my feet and fell on my back. A second later I felt a heavy weight on my stomach, and I looked up to see Karia sitting on top of me. She raised her fist and tried to punch me, but I grabbed her fist. I tried to punch her, but she grabbed my fist. We each struggled against the others weight, trying to push the other off.

"Why's the Shredder so interesting in you?" she asked angrily. "He's hell bent on destroying your brothers, but he just wants me to bring you to him! Why is that?"

I grunted against her weight. "What makes you think I know?"

I thrust my hips upward, causing Karai to launch forward over me and off of my stomach. I sat up and spun around. Karai was kneeling on the ground, holding her stomach. I lunged forward and slammed into her. We tumbled out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. I sat up and aimed my fist as I punched Karia's face. She glared at me and kicked me off. I fell back and groaned. She had knocked the wind out of me.

I sat up, but Karai had slammed her foot onto my chest and pinned me back down.

"Then what makes O'Neil so special then?" she demanded. "She's the center of an alien conspiracy, protected by mutants, and trained by a great ninja master. Why?"

A second later I saw a pair of hands reach up behind Karai, grab her hair and yank her back. Karai yelled, stepping off of me and walking back. I coughed slightly and sat up to see something surprising. It was April; she had pulled Karai off of me.

"I don't know!" she screamed. "I'm flunking Trig, my friends are mutants, aliens got my dad…!"

Karai grabbed April's arms and swung her around, forcing her to release her hair. A second later April was pinned to the ground by her arm.

"And I lost my mother!" she finished loudly.

What I saw next surprised me. Karia's face fell as she stared at April in disbelief.

"What…? You lost your mother?"

Suddenly, April slipped out of Karia's grip and grabbed her by her collar and threw her down a nearby set of subway stairs. Karai landed at the bottom with a loud thud and was silent. April slowly got up, staring down the stairs. A second later she looked over at me and quickly ran over to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," I said. "Are you?"

"I'm alright."

April extended her hand towards me and I grabbed it. She helped me up to my feet and I straightened up, holding my stomach gingerly.

"Not bad for a rookie," said April.

I shook my head. "Dude, you don't have to call yourself that anymore."

She grinned at me, and without saying a word we turned and left the alley.

* * *

**Donnie's P.O.V.**

"We only got 30 seconds before that blaster explodes!" I warned the others.

I ducked as the sea monster swung its head down at us. Me and Raph dodged it, but Mikey was sent flying across the room.

"Uh, guys? Any ideas?" asked Leo.

I rolled my eyes dully. "Well, let's see. We're cornered by an amphibious sea monster, in an underwater base that's about to blow up… I'm out."

From behind me I heard Mikey let out a loud cry and I watched as he swung his kusarigama chain out and it wrapped around the monster's jaws. Mikey landed on top of its head and started riding it like it was some sort of mechanical bull. It was pretty impressive, and me and the other two whistled and cheered him on. The monster started to buck harder and harder until Mikey finally leapt off and grabbed onto a switch on the wall and pulled it. The hatch where the monster was poking its head out of suddenly closed around its neck.

I knew that we had to leave now or we'd be blown to bits. I gestured for the others to follow me and we all ran out of the door. All except Mikey.

"Woo-hoo! That was fun!"

I knew exactly what he was going to do, and I skidded to halt and turned around to face him.

"Mikey, that victory dance better not last more than 4 seconds!" I warned.

Mikey paused for half a second before putting his hands behind his head and moving his hips from side to side as he scooted out the door.

I don't know how we managed to escape the base before the explosion, I'm just glad that we did.

"Huh, that wasn't such a chore, now was it?" said Raph as he tried to get water out of his ear slits.

I paid him no mind as I ran forward to the front of the sub and began starting it back up.

"Great, now we can get back to Apri-"

But I was cut off as I heard a loud, echoing sound. I looked out the window to see the sea monster heading right for us.

"_Are you kidding me?!_" I shouted.

"Oh crap!" Raph snapped.

"GO! Go, go, go!" Leo ordered quickly.

I quickly flipped the on switch and in no time the sub had taken off. But, even as it started I knew it wouldn't be fast enough. The monster was already catching up to us.

"Donnie, can you make this thing go faster?!" Leo asked urgently.

"Of course I can!"

I pressed the button that activated the rocket boosts. But as they started up, I looked out to see that they had suddenly snapped off of their latched, and then sped off into the sea. I stared openmouthed out the window, stunned at how much worse this had gotten.

"Wow, that _is _fast!" said Mikey.

"_Petal faster!_" I yelled.

At once the others hopped onto the bikes and started pedaling as fast as they could go. The sub started moving quickly through the water, but even as it did I knew it wouldn't be enough. As I looked out the small window I saw the image of the monster's face before it suddenly slammed right into us, causing the sub to get knocked off course. There was a loud _bam_, and I looked out to see that the monster had the sub in its grasp.

"That's it!" I screamed. "It's got us! WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Suddenly, from outside the sub, I heard a surprisingly calm sound that echoed. I opened my eyes. The sound was coming from the monster, and it didn't sound threatening or scary. The creature then started making odd cooing sounds, and suddenly I realized just what those sounds meant. I slowly turned my head around to look at the others, and the looks on their faces told me that they knew what those sounds meant as well.

"_Ugh!_" Raph said in a disgusted voice.

"Hey! We're not _that_ kind of sub!" Mikey shouted.

Even I was starting to get grossed out by this turn of events. Leo reached up and pulled down a leaver that I knew released the shock bombs. There was a loud bang from the outside and the monster squealed as it released us. The guys quickly started pedaling again and the sub swam off, away from the heated sea monster.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

"Here you go, Big Red," I said as I handed April an icepack.

She rolled her eyes. "Haha, very funny."

I chuckled as I sat down next to her. She placed the icepack on her forehead, wincing slightly.

"You were great out there," I said. "You really stood your ground, dude. That was pretty sweet."

April smiled at me. "Thanks, Nia."

Suddenly, her phone started ringing.

_**You don't know-ohoh! You don't know you're beautiful- ohoh! That's what makes you beautiful!**_

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

April grinned sheepishly as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"It's Donnie!" she said, and she quickly pressed the answer button and then put it on speaker. "Hey Donnie."

"_April! You're okay!" _Donnie's voice cried. _"You hear that guys? My sweet princess is alive!"_

I snapped my hand up to cover my mouth, forcing myself not to burst out laughing. April stared down at her phone, her cheeks going slightly red.

"_Did I mute that?" _Donnie asked quietly.

"Let's agree that you did," said April.

"_You got it!"_

I couldn't help it; I gave a small snort before going into a fit of giggles. I loved Donnie to death, but he could be such a dork sometimes.

It took about another 10 minutes before the boys got back home. Donnie looked as though he wanted to hug April and never let go, but instead he simply just asked if she was okay. I could tell that April was bursting to tell the others about what had happened. As soon as she had gotten them to sit down and listen she told them about her fight with Karai; how she had managed to out run her for a while by stealing a pizza delivery boy's motorbike, how she managed to get a good hit to Karai's face, and even mentioned how I had come to help just in time.

"And when her guard was down, I flipped her down the subway steps and we bolted!" she finished, demonstrating with her hands how she had flipped Karai.

"That is awesome!"

"You rock!"

"Kick butt!"

"Impressive, April," said Master Splinter. "You used your training well, and you fulfilled the most important goal of the ninja; to come home alive."

"Thank you, Sensei," April said, bowing towards Splinter. "Looks like I can take care of myself after all."

"Yes," said Sensei. "And no."

April stared. "Huh?"

"Not this again," I sighed, then received a sharp poke to the head, curtsey of Splinter. "Ow!"

I rubbed the back of my head as I turned to stare up at Sensei, but when I saw the serious look on his face my complaint faded away.

"Karai may have lost this time," he said. "But if Shredder wants you, he will stop at nothing to find you. And with the Kraang after you as well, the wisest decision is for you to remain here, in the sewer, with us."

I felt my eyes widen as it turned to look up at Sensei. Was he serious?

"What?!" April gasped, clearly horrified.

"Oh, that's great!" Donnie said cheerfully, and, spotting the glare April was throwing him, quickly added, "I mean… Oh, that's horrible! That, you know, your life, as you know it, is-is over, and, um… I'll shut up now…"

"I can't stay down here!" April said desperately. "I mean, what about school? My friends? Everything?!"

April suddenly lowered herself to the ground and sat with her knees tucked into her chest. She looked devastated.

"April, Master Splinter's right," Leo said. "Until we stop Shredder and the Kraang, this is the only place you're safe."

As much as I'm sure April didn't want to admit it, Leo and Sensei were both right. This was the only place where any of us could hide and neither the Kraang nor Shredder knew about it. She had to stay.

April sighed. "So, once we stop them, I can have my life back?" she asked.

"Yes," said Leo.

April glanced down for a second, then looked up at us with a serious expression.

"Let's get started.

* * *

It was around 11pm, and I was laying in my bed, wide awake, reading a gory comic. Raph had just finished reading it and had let me borrow it to read as well. Things had gone smoother than it could've been tonight. Donnie had went with April back to her Aunts apartment to get a few necessities so that she could stay here. I had given her a spare pillow and blanket and she had slept on the couch.

"Wow… I didn't know you could bend the spine that way," I said, eyeing the gory image of the mutilated being. "Wicked."

At that moment I heard a soft knock at my door. I sat up and placed my comic beside me.

"Come in."

The door creaked open, and I saw a pair of blue eyes and a head of red hair.

"April?" I asked. "What're you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep," she said as she walked in and closed the door. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Nah, I was already awake," I said. "What's up?"

"Just…" April sighed. "This whole day has been a mess. I mean, this morning I woke up feeling perfectly fine, now I feel like my life might end any day now."

_That's a little dramatic, _I thought, but I didn't word it aloud.

"I know this is probably hard for you," I said. "But you know it's for the best. The Kraang don't know where we are, Shredder doesn't know where we are. You're perfectly safe, and if you wanna stay safe you gotta stay here."

April sighed. "I know. I know…"

"Don't worry, it's only temporary for you," I said as I picked my comic back up. "It's not like you're moving in."

I had already opened to the page I had left off and was starting to read when I noticed April looking at me. I turned in her direction to look at her.

"What is it?"

April didn't say anything at first. She looked as though she were debating on what to say next.

"Nia," she said. "How did you end up here?"

This question was so simple, and yet it left a heavy impression on me. I couldn't help but stare at April, surprised at her.

"What?"

"How did you get here?" she asked. "I mean, I've tried to think of some way you would end up here, and why you would stay here, but I can't think of any."

I sighed as I turned my head back so that I was now looking up at the ceiling.

"You wanna know how I came to live here," I stated.

"Yeah, I would."

There was a pause.

"Nia, is something wrong?" April asked.

"No, not really," I said. "I mean… I can tell you why I ended up here, but… it's not exactly a happy story. It ends happy, obviously, but… there's a lot of bad stuff that happened to me that I haven't had to talk about in a long time."

I turned back to look at April. She was staring down at me, and I could tell that she was decided what to do.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said. "I don't wanna bring up any bad memories…"

"No," I said suddenly. "No, it's fine… I can tell you. You're my friend, and I trust you."

April looked at me with a surprised expression, then nodded. She walked over to my yellow beanbag chair and sat down in it. I closed my magazine and set it to the side as I sat up and turned to that my legs hung off the edge.

"You're sure you wanna hear this?" I asked.

April nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

I sighed. "Alright… but remember, you asked for it…"

* * *

**Hope you guys liked that chapter. Remember, go check out that story I told you about up at the top. Also, please leave a review here. It really helps me and others to get your opinion. Thanks everyone, Bye!**


	29. The Pulverizer Returns!

Ch. 24  
The Pulverizer Returns!

I stood on the roof, looking out into the city. It was just as lively as a night in New York could be. Cars zooming by and honking at other drivers, everyone constantly running towards their destination- this was good. The people would be distracted.

I impatiently chewed on my piece of gum, grinding my teeth in the process. I've been up here for only 10 minutes, but it feels like much more than that. Hopefully it wouldn't be any longer, I was starting to feel a bit impatient. I blew a large bubble as I quickly pulled out my T-Phone and saw that the time read 8:09. _She's late, _I thought as I put my phone back into my pocket. _She told me to be here at 8. _I huffed as I shook my head. _If she's not here in the next 2 minutes, I'm leaving._

But, as soon as this thought crossed my mind I heard a noise from behind me. It was soft and subtle, like someone or something was trying to be quiet on purpose. Taking a deep breath, I reached up, grabbed the edges of my hoodie and pulled it off of my head as I turned around. Karai was standing just a few feet from me, a smirk on her face.

"I see you got my message," she said. "Funny. I almost expected you not to show up."

"After the stunt you pulled with April, would you have blamed me?" I asked.

"No, but we're not here about that, are we?"

I shook my head. "What have you got?"

"First, you tell me what happened the other day," Karai said firmly. "I was surprised that you came to save O'Neal alone. I expected the turtles to be with you, they just love saving her."

My eyes narrowed. I had a feeling something like this would happen. I told myself that if Karai ever questioned me like this, that I would be careful of what I said, and made sure that what I did say was only relevant in our deal.

"It was the Kraang," I said. "We found out that they were trying to turn our water supply into the water that's on their home planet."

Karai raised an eyebrow. "And that's bad because…"

"Their water's practically acid. It destroys anything it touches, including people. The guys found the facility that was converting the water and they went after it and destroyed it."

"Converting the water, huh?" Karai muttered to herself. "That makes sense then…"

"How does it make sense?" I asked.

Karai looked at me for a moment before telling me, "I snuck off the other night to go see if I could find any Kraang stuff going on. I found a few of those droids at a boathouse near the docks of the East River. If what you told me is true, then they're probably still messing around with the water, too."

"You sure?"

Karai smirked at me again. "Why don't we both go check it out and see what their up to?"

I eyed her suspiciously. "How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"Can't you tell that I'm not lying?"

"Yes, but I could also just be going crazy," I eyed her a little more, then sighed. "Alright, let's go."

Karai nodded. She then stepped aside and gestured for me to walk ahead. I folded my arms and shook my head.

"I'm not stupid enough to turn my back on you."

"Aw, I'm hurt," she said in mock surprised before walking forward, and I quickly followed her. "You still think I'm trying to trap you?"

"Just because I've made a deal with you, doesn't mean I trust you with my life," I said seriously.

We stopped at the edge of the roof. I turned my head to look up at Karai, and saw that she was looking at me with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Funny," she said. "I was thinking the same thing."

With that, she turned and leapt off the edge of the roof. I spat my gum out before following after her.

* * *

I kept my back against the wooden crate as slowly leaned my head over and peeked around the corner. From this angle I could see the end of the docks. There were several Kraang droids there; some appeared to be messing with some kind of tank, and the others looked to be guarding.

"What can you see?" Karai whispered.

"Droids," I whispered back. "About 8, I think, but there could be more around. There's one at the end of the docks messing with a weird machine. I think it might be used to convert the water."

"Even if it isn't, it's gotta be dangerous," I could almost feel Karai smirking at me. "Think you can handle that, warrior princess?"

I rolled my eyes. Now wasn't the time to get annoyed, I had to focus. I leaned my head back and turned back to look at Karai.

"Here's the plan; I'll go out there and cause a distraction. When they leave, you go get the tank and destroy it."

Karai nodded.

"Okay, here I go."

I quickly jumped up and climbed up to the top of the box. I jumped off and landed on the next crate over and started running. I put my fingers to my lips and whistled.

"Hey, Kraang doofs!" I shouted. "I'm over here! Come and get me!"

The whole group turned at the sound of my voice and instantly started making their way towards me. It looked as though one of them had stayed behind with the tank, but that was alright. Karai could handle that one.

I allowed the droids to chase me for a few moments before stopping and pulling out throwing stars form my back pockets. I threw them and they hit 2 droids, the other 5 kept running. I glared at them before pulling out my kamas. The droids stopped just a few feet away from me and pulled out their blasters. They fired at me and I ran forward, dodging the lasers.

I ran up to one and kicked his gun out of his hand. I kicked my foot out and knocked him aside, causing him to knock another droid down. I turned around and ran forward, swinging at the next droid and slicing his arms off. I kneed him in the chest and knocked him down. I turned my head to one side and saw a droid coming at me, and I turned my head to the other side the see a droid coming at me from there as well. I waited for a few more moments before I swung my kamas up, slicing the droid's heads clean in half. The droids dropped their weapons and their robotic bodies fell to the ground.

I looked at everything for a moment before putting my kamas back into my belt and running back towards the docks. I ran around several crates until I saw the docks. I saw the mangled remains of the droid who had stayed behind, and I saw Karai by the little tank, slicing and stabbing it. Sparks and bits of metal flew out everywhere. A few seconds went by and finally Karai decided that the tank had had enough and stood up, putting her tanto back into her sheath. She turned her head towards me just as I ran towards her.

"Aw, you killed them all?" she said, glaring at me. "That's not fair."

"I'll be sure to save you some next time," I said. "Let's get out of here."

I glanced behind her and gasped. There was a larger group of droids coming our way, their guns pointed at us.

"Stop!" one shouted. "You are intruding in a place that you should not be intruding."

"Looks like you got what you wanted," I said as I took out my kamas.

Karai grinned as she took her tanto back out again. The droids started firing at us, and me and Karai leapt away. I leapt up and charged down at one droid, knocking it down. I sliced its head in half before kicking my foot out and knocking a nearby Kraang droid down. I jumped back to my feet and threw my kama out, and it hit a droid in its head, and it dropped its weapon before falling to the ground.

"I can see why you fight these guys," Karai called out, and I turned my head in time to see her slice one droid in half down the middle. "It's almost as fun as fighting you."

"You and I have very different definitions of 'fun.'"

I ran forward and grabbed my kama out of the droids head. I heard a gun powering up behind me and turned around. I was staring down the barrel of a laser before I jumped up into the air, then quickly threw both of my kamas down at the droid. Both hit it in the chest and he fell down. I landed on top of him and grabbed the kamas.

I turned around to see Karai kick a droid down on the ground before driving her tanto into its chest. Then, from behind her, I saw a droid who was missing its legs sit up and point a laser at her. I quickly tossed my kama out and it hit the droids arms, causing it to drop its gun. It looked up at me just as I ran to it and snatched my kama back before swinging my blade up and slicing its face. It sparked and spluttered for a moment before falling back down. I put my kamas back into my belt as I turned around. Karai was staring at me, looking surprised.

"Let's beat it before anymore show up," I said.

Karai nodded. Without another word we both turned and started running out of the docks.

It took us nearly 20 minutes before we reached the city again. We ran into the nearest alley way before we finally stopped to catch our breath. I hunched over, hands on my knees, taking deep breaths. I looked up to see Karai leaning against the wall, breathing heavily as well.

"Man… that went well," I panted as I straightened up. "Better than I thought… Phew!"

"Yeah," Karai breathed. "Not bad for our first run, huh?"

I shook my head and brushed my bangs from my eyes.

"Hey," said Karai, and I turned around to face her. "Look… thanks for getting the one that was behind me. I didn't see it, so… yeah."

I blinked as I stared at her. Did Karai just compliment me? She seemed to have realized this too, because she looked slightly sheepish for a moment before becoming stern again.

"Don't let it get to your head," she said. "Especially not next time."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I took out my phone to see what the time was. "Damn, I gotta go. I told the guys that I was only going out for solo training tonight, they might wonder where I am."

"I have to go, too," said Karai.

I looked up at her. "If you find anything else…"

"I'll send you a message."

I nodded. She looked at me for a moment before jumping up onto the fire escape and climbing up. I watched as she climbed all the way up, climbed onto the roof, and out of sight.

I turned around and walked towards the manhole cover at the end of the alley. I picked up the cover and moved it to the side. I slipped down the ladder and brought the cover back over the manhole.

* * *

"Shame you missed out on patrol last night, Nia," said Raph. "We really kicked those Foot soldier's butts!"

"Trust me, Raph," I said. "I was able to use plenty of my energy during my exercise."

It was the night after my little 'mission'- for lack of a better word- with Karai. Though I arrived a little later than planned, the guys weren't suspicious of anything. They themselves had their hands full during their patrol. They had run into the Foot and had to fight them off. From what they said, the soldiers they fought were pretty simple to deal with. That wasn't hard for me to believe. Even I've noticed that the Foot Clan's current recruits had seemed to be lacking in abilities lately.

"It was good of you to go on a training exercise, Nia," said Leo, who was observing the TCRI building with Donnie. "Sometimes it's good to work by yourself."

I glanced down. "You have no idea."

I heard Raph groan irritably and turned to see him glaring up at Mikey, who was sitting up on the upper level of a small water tower, bouncing a little ball that he had found. He had been bouncing the thing for the past 30 minutes, and while the noise was pretty annoying, it was better than sitting in silence.

"Alright guys, lets pack it in," Leo said, sounding rather bored. "Nothing's happening."

"I was afraid this day would come," Raph said as he straightened up. "We've run out of butts to kick."

Mikey gave the little ball another annoying bounce, and Raph leapt up and kicked it out so that it soared over the edge of the building and out of sight.

"Hey!" Mikey yelled.

"C'mon, Raph," I said as I walked over and leaned my arm on his shoulder. "The Kraang haven't left yet. I'm sure we'll have plenty of robot-can to kick soon."

"Not soon enough," he grumbled, sounding like a disappointed toddler.

I rolled my eyes as I lowered my arm and turned to look over at Leo, who had remained quiet through the whole conversation. I saw that he was staring curiously down below the building.

"I don't think we've run out of butts to kick yet," he said.

At this, me, Raph and Mikey joined the other two at the edge of the roof. I looked down into the alley that Leo was looking at and saw a small, dark figure walking up against the wall.

"Foot Clan!" Mikey whispered.

"I don't get it," said Raph. "Just one guy?"

"Maybe he's a scout?" I said, shrugging.

"Or maybe, they only _need _one guy!" Mikey said dramatically. "Maybe this guy is the meanest, baddest, most deadly ninja we've ever seen!"

With this new thought in mind I quickly turned back to look down at the possibly deadly ninja. A second later my suspicions proved faulty as I saw the soldier feebly try to leap up and climb through the window above him. He managed to grab the hinges on the third try, but quickly fell to the ground on his back.

"Or not," said Donnie simply.

The Foot soldier leapt up again, grabbing onto the window ledge. He managed to pull himself up and squeeze his torso through, but got stuck and started wiggling his legs around. It was pretty comical and I couldn't help but smile a little.

"Anybody else find this dude kind of adorable?" Mikey asked.

I raised my hand slightly. "Me."

"Well, he's not much," Leo said matter-of-factly. "But he's all we got. Let's go."

At the same time, we all stood up and leapt off the edge of the building. We landed in the alley and made a run towards the still stuck soldier. But just then, a group of many Foot soldiers landed all around us.

"Ambush!" Leo yelled.

"Alright!" Raph shouted happily.

We drew out our weapons and set the fight in motion. I whipped out my tessen and charged at the soldiers closer to me. They ran at me, and I leapt up and spun around, kicking both of my legs out. My feet landed again and I saw both soldiers on the ground. Another one started running at me, swinging his sword at me. I ducked my head to avoid he sword and then punched him in his jaw. He stumbled back and I kneed him in the stomach, causing him to fall back down.

I glanced around and saw that the rest of the soldiers were on the ground as well. A second later they all started to sit up, and me and the others prepared to continue the fight. One of the soldiers gave a small hand gesture, and then they all suddenly ran off. All that was left was that one, little soldier that was still stuck in the window.

"And then there was one," I said.

The last soldier finally dropped out of the window and landed on the ground. He turned and started walking off.

"Everything okay? I heard-"

He was cut off as Donnie stuck his staff out in front of the soldier's feet, causing him to trip. He fell face down into the concrete as we surrounded him. He quickly turned on his side to face us and Donnie held his staff out, holding the soldier in place.

"Wait, Donnie! It's me!"

Donnie blinked. "What?"

That's exactly what I was thinking. How did this guy know Donnie? Said turtle then reached over, grabbed the soldier's mask, and lifted it off of his head. My jaw dropped.

"The Pulverizer?!" Donnie exclaimed.

It was, indeed, the Pulverizer. There was no mistaking that goofy face or that ridiculous little red mask that he was wearing.

"Hey guys!" he said as he sprang to his feet. "How awesome is this? Betcha guys were wonderin' when you'd see me again."

"No," Raph said plainly as he folded his arms.

"Ah, Raphael," Pulverizer walked up to Raph and put an arm around his shoulder. "Still the jokester, I see. Oh, good one!"

Pulverizer raised his fist in an attempt to give Raph a fist bump, but Raph instead grabbed his fist and twisted it.

"Ow!" he yelled, backing away as he held his fist gingerly.

"You were asking for it, dude," I said as I put my tessen back in its holster. "Also, Mikey is way more of a jokester than Raph."

Pulverizer turned his head towards me, his goofy smile got 10 times wider, and I realized too late that it was a mistake to make my presence obvious.

"Nia!" Pulverizer got back to his feet and was in front of me in less than a second. "My platinum-haired beauty! It's been too long!"

I froze. "Oh geez…"

"I thought about you the most," he continued, speaking in an airy, light voice. "It was hard, but I made it through. And I know that your current relationship makes it hard for us to be together, but…"

"Hold on, what?" I cut him off. "What relationship?"

"Oh, back when I first met you guys, I kinda asked Donnie about you, and when I asked if you were single he said you were seeing someone."

I raised my eyebrow. _Donnie did what?_ Not taking my eyes off the Pulverizer, I slowly leaned back towards my purple banded brother.

"Donnie," I muttered. "Explanation?"

Donnie groaned. "He kept asking about you and wondered if you were single or not," he whispered. "I thought he would back off if he thought you were taken, so I told him you had a boyfriend."

I looked away from him to glance at the Pulverizer, who saw me looking and then started flexing his nonexistent muscles and wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"A fat lot of good that did, didn't it?" I said bitterly.

"I have returned with the intension of winning you over," said Pulverizer, sounding as though he were declaring his loyalty to the U.S. military. "And I will do so as soon as I meet my rival. So, where is this 'Angus' I've heard so much of?"

"_What?!_" I shrieked, whipping around to face Donnie. "What?! Of all the damn bloody names in the world Donnie, you went for his?!"

"It was the first name I could think of!" Donnie said desperately. "I had to say something!"

"Dude, there's over a billion male names in the world, all you had to do was pick one!" I stressed, holding a single finger in the air. "Besides, couldn't you have just told him that I just wasn't interested?"

"And tell him that you're single? As if!" he snapped, then adopted a mock happy voice as he said, "_Oh yes, Pulverizer! My sister is totally available! I'd simply love it if you two got together! _I was doing you a favor, Nia!"

"What do you mean?" the Pulverizer said confusedly. "Wait… Is she not seeing any-"

"She's not available," Raph said angrily as he marched up and grabbed Pulverizer and lifted him up by his collar. "The sooner you get that through your thick head, the better. So, do us all a favor, and _drop it_!"

And with that, he dropped the Pulverizer, who fell back down on his knees. Raph glared as he folded his arms, and I couldn't help but move a little closer towards him. It was times like these that I was glad that Raph was a hothead. His reaction might have been a little more forceful than what I would've liked, but it seemed to have gotten the point across.

The Pulverizer rubbed his neck slightly as he looked up at us, and cleared his throat.

"Um, anyways…" he mumbled, then he quickly brightened up. "Hey, what do you guys think of my new threads?" he asked, showing off his Foot Clan uniform. "I'm a ninja now!"

"How in… What are you doing with the Foot?" Donnie asked, looking dumbstruck with this fact.

"Well, last time, you told me I needed to practice," said Pulverizer. "So, I joined a Bradford dojo to hold my craft. I wowed them with my smooth moves, and boom! They liked me so much, they asked me if I wanted to join the Foot Clan!"

"Wow. They must be _really _hurtin' for dudes," Mikey muttered.

"What could they possibly use you for?" I asked without thinking.

"Oh, that's the best part, darling," he said, winking at me. "I've only been with them a few days, and I've already made the rank of Ashigaru-sha! Ha!"

I felt my jaw drop. This guy was talking about Ashigaru-sha like it was a good thing! What was his deal? Donnie was clearly thinking the same thing, because he then face palmed himself.

"Do you know what Ashigaru-sha means?" he asked.

"No."

"It means 'cannon fodder.'"

"Ohh-ho, wow!"

"Do you know what _that_ means?"

Pulverizer paused. "…No."

"Do you know anything about your rank?" I asked.

"I know that it's super awesome!" Pulverizer said enthusiastically. "'Cause I got super awesome ninja skills!"

I sighed as I folded my arms. "Donnie, explain."

Donnie walked towards Pulverizer before saying in an intelligent and dignified voice, "In traditional Japanese warfare, the Ashigaru-sha were the expendable soldiers who were sent first to waste the enemy's ammunition and set off traps before the real soldiers arrived."

"Not so awesome now, is it?" I asked.

But Pulverizer shook his head.

"Nah. Nah, the Foot Clan wouldn't do that. We're the good guys!"

"Why would you think that?" Donnie asked.

"We're out there fighting the Kraang, just like you!" Pulverizer said, then his face fell. "I mean, I-I do check for traps, and I do get shot at a lot, and… now that you mention it, they-they do keep calling me expendable."

"Told you," I said.

"Why are the Foot fighting the Kraang?" Leo asked aloud.

I flexed my hands as I gulped. I didn't know if the whole Foot Clan was against the Kraang, I only knew that Karai was. But she always said that Shredder wanted nothing to do with the Kraang, so why would the Foot be fighting them?

"I could totally find that out for you!" Pulverizer piped up. "I could be a spy!"

Donnie shook his head. "Pulverizer, do yourself a favor, and quit the Foot."

Donnie tossed Pulverizer's Foot mask off to the side and it landed on the ground. Pulverizer gasped in horror and he crawled over and picked it back up. Then he lifted his head and turned to face us, a small smile on his face.

"Ohh, sure! I'll quit the Foot!" he said loudly, winking at us.

"No, I'm serious," said Donnie.

"Of course you're serious," Pulverizer said, continuously winking several times.

"I am!" Donnie snapped. "Stop winking!"

Pulverizer stood back and gave a thumbs up.

"Right! I'll recon intel and uh… send you a text!" he looked over at me and smirked. "Mind if I get your digits, malady?"

"Pulverizer, you have Donnie's number," I said plainly. "So, use it."

"Sure thing!" he said. "Gotta go! I'm in ninja stealth mode…"

Waving his hands in front of his face, Pulverizer slowly scooted away out of the alley. There was the sound of a car honking, and the screeching of wheels.

"Sorry!" we heard Pulverizer say loudly.

"That boy doesn't know what he's in for," I muttered.

"I just hope he quits while he's still got the chance," said Donnie.

* * *

Between my first meeting with Karai and the not-so-challenging Foot, I was happy to be training today. Sensei had called us in, saying that we were having an important session today, one that would help us in our battles on the surface.

We all stood lined up in the dojo. I stood between Leo and Raph as we waited to be told what to do. Sensei stood before us, arms folded, looking down at all of us. For some reason his expression showed that he was less than happy, and I couldn't figure out why.

"You five have defeated much of the Foot Clan with ease," Sensei said lowly.

"Why does he make that sound like a bad thing?" Raph whispered to me.

"Because you have grown complacent!" Sensei snapped, making both me and Raph jump. "Each of you has become dependent on your own weapon. But, there are times where you may not be able to fight with what you know, and when that happens, you must adapt to your environment."

"Oh yeah?" Mikey piped up, then suddenly pulled a comic book out of nowhere. "What if there's only, say… a comic book?"

Sensei then raised his hand and smacked the comic book back, causing it to hit Mikey in the face, which, in turn, caused him to fall back onto his shell.

"Anything can be a weapon."

"Sensei," said Raph. "You can't seriously send us out there armed with nothing but a comic book!"

"For a ninja, _anything_ can be a weapon," Sensei said firmly.

"So, what do you want us to do?" asked Leo.

"I want you to embrace the unfamiliar," said Sensei before he declared, "Switch weapons!"

The boys and I stared up at him. Switch our weapons? He's never had us do this before. We all looked at each other for a moment before finally moving. The boys started to take their weapons out and just as I grabbed my kamas, Sensei put a hand on my shoulder.

"Lavinia, I would like for you to sit this one out, for now."

"But how come-" but as Sensei gave me a stern, but knowing look, I slowly nodded in understanding. "Oh… Sure, Sensei."

I released my kamas and walked over to stand beside Splinter. As I turned back around I saw that the guys had already switched up; Leo had Donnie's staff, Donnie had Raph's sais, Raph had Mikey's chucks, and Mikey had Leo's katanas.

"Hey look, I'm Leo!" Mikey cheered, then said in a less than accurate depiction of Leo, "Guys! Shh! We have to be quiet! Ninjas are quiet! Quiet down!"

At this, me, Donnie and Raph all started laughing. Leo was less than amused.

"I sound nothing like that!" he snapped.

"Yes, that's why we're laughing," Raph said, smirking. "Because you sound nothing like that."

"I think it was pretty accurate," I said, and the other three all laughed as Leo glared at me.

"Face each other," Sensei ordered.

And just like that the moment was gone. The boy's smiles faded and they instantly took stances and faced each other, Leo facing Raph and Donnie facing Mikey.

"Hold on," said Leo. "How come Nia doesn't have to switch with one of us?"

"As you very well know, my sons, Nia has a natural talent for adaptation," Splinter explained. "It is for this reason that she has two sets of weapons at her immediate disposal. Being able to adapt to her surroundings is a given for her."

I grinned as I gave the boys a tiny shrug. I couldn't help if I was naturally adaptive, and the boys couldn't help that they weren't. They just had to learn a little harder than I did.

The boys all looked at me before turning back to face each other. There was a few moments pause in which the boys took a second to figure out how to stand with their new weapons. Their reactions were pretty much the same; confused, frustrated, and a little bit silly. _This isn't gonna end well, is it?_

"Hajime!"

What happened next was all but what I had expected. Raph made to swing at Leo with the chucks, but had hit his head instead and went down. Leo had made like he was going to charge at Raph, but had tripped on the staff and had fallen as well. Mikey attempted to somehow spin the katanas in his hands, both of which ended up flying in the air and landed just in front of him, causing him to stumble back and fall. The only one left standing was Donnie, who still appeared to be figuring out how to hold the sais. He was practically waving them around his face carelessly, wasn't paying attention, and then suddenly poked the bottom of his chin with the blade.

"Ow!" he cried, dropping both of the sais.

"Yame!"

The boys all froze in the positions that they fell in, looking stunned and embarrassed.

"That was messed up," Mikey muttered as he slowly got to his feet.

"You will continue to fight this way," Sensei told them seriously. "It will teach you resourcefulness and versatility."

The others didn't look to happy about this new arrangement. Raph was grumbling irritably as he roughly yanked himself out of the nunchuck chains.

"Not so easy, is it?" Mikey said, smirking at his older brother.

"Hey, I'm getting the hang of it-!"

But Raph cut himself off as he accidentally swung the chuck up and hit his head again. Mikey laughed as he walked away, and Raph growled at him.

"Don't worry guys, you'll get it," I said encouragingly.

"Easy for you to say," Raph said. "You're a natural with anything you touch."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but I'm not perfect."

Raph muttered something under his breath and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I said your shoelace is untied."

I scoffed. "It is not!"

Raph looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. I looked at him for a moment before slowly looking down and received a shock when I saw that my left shoe was untied. I quickly looked up at Raph, and saw that he was smirking at me.

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped as I kneeled down to tie my shoe.

* * *

The boys have had their new weapons for only a day and they weren't any better now than they were when they got them. They all seemed too worried that they were going to hurt themselves before they hurt anyone else, and I couldn't blame them for thinking so. They weren't even sure what to do with their new weapons sometimes.

Today, as I walking into the living room, I saw them all examining and using their weapons as though they were new, but delicate toys that they had gotten for Christmas. Mikey was happily using the katanas to slice up some pizza, Leo was swinging the staff like a baseball bat, Raph was practicing with his chucks while attempting to not hit is face, and Donnie simply sat there, staring at the pair of sais in his hands.

I walked over towards the pit and plopped down right next to Donnie.

"Hey Donnie," I said.

"Hey," he said, glancing at me before looking back at the sai.

I grinned as I raised an eyebrow. "You know it's not gonna do anything unless you use it, right?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to use it." Donnie said. "How does Raph even use these things? They're impossible!"

"No, not impossible," I said. "But, they can be challenging, and Raph likes a challenge."

"Yeah, no kidding."

I let out a small laugh. There was a small pause, and Donnie continued to examine the sai as I glanced down at my shoes, fiddling with my hands, and I bit my bottom lip nervously. There was something I had been wanting to talk to Donnie about since we came home after running into the Pulverizer.

"Hey, Don?" I spoke up. "I, uh… I'm sorry I got mad the other night."

Donnie finally pulled his eyes away from the sai completely as he turned his head to look at me.

"What do you- Oh," Donnie looked sheepish. "You mean about me saying you were dating Angus."

"Yeah, that," I said. "Look… I know why you said it and you had to say something fast, so… I'm sorry, and thanks."

Donnie grinned, shaking his head. "Don't thank me. He's still head-over-heels for you."

"Yeah," I said, rolling my eyes. "No idea why though. I'm not that stunning to look at."

Donnie raised an eyebrow. "Have you looked in a mirror? Nia, you're gorgeous. Honest! I don't think the Pulverizer is the ideal guy for you, but I can see why he likes you. You're a nice and amazing girl Nia, and the fact that you're so pretty is just icing on the cake."

I could feel my ears start to feel hot as I smiled at Donnie, who was smiling back at me. A second later I raised my fist and playfully punched his shoulder.

"See?" I said, frustrated and a little flustered. "Now, why can't you say stuff like that to April? If you told her that she'd be putty in your hands!"

Donnie spluttered as his face suddenly started to go red, and I chuckled at his dorkiness. Then, his T-Phone buzzed and went off. Donnie picked it up and looked down at it.

"Uh oh," he said. "Text message from You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort?" I asked curiously. "Why would he be texting us?"

Donnie turned and stared at me as though I had just grown an extra head.

"It was a joke!" I said quickly, raising my hands in surrender. "I was joking!"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "No, it's not Voldemort."

"Then who is it?" Mikey asked.

Donnie's face fell as he stared at Mikey. "Okay, rephrase; Text message from Everybody-But-Mikey-Knows-Who."

Mikey grinned and gave his brother the thumbs up. Donnie and I stood up and walked towards the others as Donnie read the message under his breath.

"The Pulverizer is telling us where the Foot are gonna strike next," he said.

"What do you know?" said Raph. "He's actually useful."

"Yeah, but he can't stay in the Foot," Donnie said seriously. "They'll toast 'im!"

"Inside information, Donnie? It's worth the risk!"

"But, we're not the ones taking the risk, the _Pulverizer _is!"

"I know," Raph smirked. "It's the perfect plan."

"It's anything but perfect," I said. "Raph, Pulverizer is in danger as long as he stays in the Foot, and you know it."

"Why does it matter as long as we're not in danger?"

I frowned. "So, you're completely okay with someone who can't defend themselves the way we can doing something like this? What if it was Angus or Vanessa who was doing this? They're your friends, aren't they? You'd be worried if they were in the Pulverizer's positon, wouldn't you?"

Raph's face fell as he stared at me. The confidence that had been in his eyes were now filled with embarrassment and shame.

"Duh! Yeah, they're my friends, and I would be worried," he said. "But… I…"

Raph's voice trailed off, and he stopped talking as he hung his head. I looked at him sadly. I knew he was sorry for what he said, and that was that. I turned around to look at Leo.

"Leo, we have to help the Pulverizer," I told him. "He can't stay in the Foot, he won't survive."

"I know," he said seriously, then sighed. "Alright, we'll follow up on his lead and then bust the poor guy out of the Foot."

"Excuse me!" Mikey piped up. "I'm the sword guy! I make the decisions here!"

We all stared at him. Mikey put his hands on his hips and glanced around.

"Uh… what Leo said," he said finally.

I snorted. "Way to lead, bro."

* * *

Later that night, the guys and I went back to the same alleyway where we had run into the Pulverizer. We were hiding behind a large dumpster, waiting for him to arrive, and we were there for probably about 10 minutes before there was any movement. Then, from the end of the alley, scooting in our direction against the wall, was the Pulverizer.

"Alright, lookin' for traps, lookin' for traps…" he muttered lowly.

Donnie decided to take charge and reached out and grabbed Pulverizer, dragging him down behind the dumpster with us.

"Wow!" he yelped as he fell, then when he saw us he smiled. "Oh, hey! Great, you got my message. I have some information for you!"

"Great, great," Donnie said quickly. "But we're getting you outta here first."

Donnie grabbed Pulverizer by the back of his shirt and pulled him up as he stood up. Then he glanced over at the other end of the alley and gasped. I turned and saw that both Fishface and Dogpound, along with a few Foot Clan members, were standing there, glaring at us.

"As soon as we get ourselves outta here," said Raph.

"Just stay behind us, and-" Donnie began, but Pulverizer cut him off.

"Help! It's the turtles, they've got me! Help!" he screamed.

"What?" said Leo, stunned.

"Dude, what the hell?" I snapped at him.

"Sorry guys!" Pulverizer hissed. "Can't blow my cover!"

"Not cool, bro," Mikey said angrily.

Dogpound and Fishface all started to advance on us, not saying a word.

"Spread out," Leo ordered.

Me and the others all stood up and walked into the open, withdrawing our weapons. I looked over at the others nervously, watching them hold their new weapons. Using them in the dojo was one thing, but using them in a fight against our enemies? Would they be able to do that?

"As the one with the swords, I say _retreat_!" Mikey said fearfully.

"Having the swords doesn't make you leader," Leo told him seriously.

He suddenly ran forward, swinging the Bo staff as he charged Dogpound. The mutant simply grabbed the staff and lifted Leo into the air before throwing him back. Leo slammed against the alley wall and fell to the ground.

"Not that it's a bad idea. Retreat!"

Leo and Raph both leapt out of the way just as Dogpound made to crush them with his extremely large fist. They tried to climb up the fire escape, but Dogpound knocked them down.

Suddenly, I felt something pull at my feet and fell forward. I landed on my hands pushed myself up and swung my leg out, kicking the Foot soldier in the face and knocking him down. I opened my tessen up and swung my arm as I threw it. It hit two soldiers in the heads, making them stumble, and it knocked another one off of his feet as it came back. I caught it in the air and opened it again as I turned.

Mikey appeared to be stuck in a corner with two Foot soldiers closing in. He looked lost as to what to do with the katanas in his hands. Suddenly, Raph, who was attempting to fight Fishface, stepped back as he was swinging the chucks, and accidentally hit Mikey in his head.

"Hey! Watch where you swing that thing!" he yelled.

"You should talk!" Leo yelled.

Mikey turned his head to look at his eldest brother, and saw that he was pointing one of the katana directly at Leo's chest.

"Sorry," Mikey said sheepishly, lowering the katanas. "My bad."

From above, Donnie fell from the fire escape and landed in front of us.

"Oh, this won't work," he said, glaring down at the sais in his hands.

We all looked up and saw that Dogpound and Fishface were advancing on us, hatred in their eyes. The fact that they still hadn't said anything was even more unnerving. I glanced over at Leo, and I could tell what he was thinking.

"Switch weapons!" he shouted.

At once, they guys all tossed their weapons into the air. As they came down, each was met with their original owner. Donnie grabbed his staff, Mikey gripped his nunchucks, Leo caught his katanas, and Raph snatched his sais. The boys all paused for a moment to get ahold of their weapons before advancing back into the fight.

Now that they had their own weapons back, the boys' performance had increased and intensified by a lot. Leo and Donnie instantly went for Dogpound, smacking him and knocking him back. Raph swung his sais at Fishface before kicking him and knocking him down.

"This is more like it!" Mikey shouted.

"Oh yeah," Raph cheered. "There's something really satisfying about not losing."

"You know that this decision is gonna come back to bite you in the shell, right?" I called over to him.

Raph snorted. "It isn't now, so why worry?"

I rolled my eyes. I knew that the guys would probably regret their decision later, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. I ran at a Foot soldier and ducked as he swung a sword at me. I snapped my foot up and kicked him right between his legs, making him keel over. I raised my fist and punched him in the face, sending him back.

Then, as I glanced outside the alley across the street I saw two Foot soldiers come out of a building, and they were each holding a silver and glass canister full of glowing green ooze.

"What?" I gasped.

Suddenly, Fishface, Dogpound and the remaining soldiers ran out of the alley. We ran after them, but there was the sound of wheels squealing and as we ran into the street we saw them peel away in a large van.

"Guys, mutagen!" Donnie said urgently. "The Foot are stealing mutagen!"

"Shredder with mutagen," said Raph. "Well, that can't be good."

"In what world could that possibly be good?" I asked.

"Psst!"

We all turned to look back down the alley. From behind the dumpster we were hiding by before, we saw a large hand poke out and wave at us.

"Over here!" the Pulverizer hissed.

We all ran back down the alley and stopped at the dumpster. Pulverizer smiled and waved at us. I frowned at him as I put my hands on my hips.

"You gonna hide there all night?" I asked him.

"Shh! Don't blow my cover!" he whispered.

"You don't have to hide, Pulverizer," said Mikey. "The Foot are gone."

Pulverizer cleared his throat, and started talking in a deeper, throaty voice.

"You shouldn't use my real name," he said lowly.

Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Your real name is 'Pulverizer?'"

Pulverizer glanced down. "No… it's Timothy."

I felt my brows unfurrow a little. That was a nice name for a guy like him. Donnie grabbed Timothy by his collar and hoisted him up to his feet.

"Stop talking like that, Tim," he said in a frustrated voice.

"Guys!" Timothy said suddenly. "You'll never guess what Shredder's gonna do with the mutagen!"

"He's gonna create a mutant army to destroy us?" Donnie said blatantly.

Timothy's face faltered. "Yeah, but… There's a lot more to it than that."

"Really…?" Donnie said as though he seriously doubted it.

"No… you guessed," Timothy said glumly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Pulverizer, you're in over your head," Donnie told him. "Go home!"

"Wait," said Leo. "Not until he finds out more about Shredder's mutation plan."

"What?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, baby!" Timothy cheered, raising his fists. "The Pulverizer stays in the game! Up high!"

We all stood still, frowning at him. His smile slowly fell as he lowered his hand.

"Okay then… I'm off!" he said as he ran out of the alley. "I'm practically invisable!"

A second later there was the sound of a car horn and a loud crash. I could hear Timothy yell.

"I'm okay!" he said. "I'm sorry, again… I'm gonna go spy now!"

"Oh boy," I groaned, shaking my head.

"So what if Shredder's building an army of mutant?" Raph jeered, punching his fist into his hand. "They're still no match for my sais! High-three!"

As Raph doesn't normally call a high-three, I raised my hand with Leo and Mikey and gave Raph a high-three. But even as I laughed a little, I could help but notice the look of worry on Donnie's face.

* * *

The boys were 10 times more cheerful when we got home than when we had left earlier that night. As we leapt over the turnstiles we were all cheering and laughing, and the guys were relishing the moment with their respective weapons.

"And I was like, makin' the bucks with my ol' nunchucks!" Mikey sang, spinning his chucks around.

"I was droppin' the Foot like flies with my sais!" Raph said smoothly, spinning his sais as he leapt off the turnstile and landed next to Mikey.

"Yeah, Raph!" he cheered. "Leo?"

"I had my Kursawa swingin' and zingin'!" he said, dancing his arms around a bit.

I held my stomach as I laughed at him.

"Good one, bro," I said.

"Nia, you next!" said Raph.

"Okay!" I whipped out my tessen and did a front flip off the turnstile. "When those Foot came in, I was cleaning their mess with my good ol' tess!"

Leo laughed as Raph and Mikey cheered. I laughed some more as I put my tessen back into its holster.

"This is fun!" I said. "C'mon Donnie, you do one!"

I looked over at Donnie and my smile fell. He still had that same worried look on his face that he had when we sent Pulverizer back into the Foot.

"Guys," he said. "Maybe it's not such a good idea sending the Pulverizer into harm's way."

"You worry too much, Donnie," said Raph coolly, spinning one of his sais in his hands.

I heard the sound of footsteps and looked up to see Sensei approaching us. Before I even had time to feel worried he suddenly snatched Raph's sai from him.

"So," he said. "You decided not to follow my lesson."

Though his voice was calm, I could still hear the frustration behind it, and it made me even more nervous.

"Sensei, we don't get it," Raph said irritably. "How does switching weapons help us in a fight? We were doing fine on our own."

"Then you still do not understand the point of the lesson," Splinter said, and now he sounded angry. "So you will learn how to adapt… by having no weapons."

The boys and I all gasped. No weapons?!

"Hand over your weapons," Sensei demanded. "Now!"

The guys all stared up at him for a moment, before slowly taking their weapons and handing them over to Sensei, who took them. He then turned and walked towards me.

"You too, Lavinia."

"What?" I gasped. "But, Sensei-"

"I was hoping you would help your brothers follow their lesson," he said sternly. "But, you allowed them to ignore it. So, you will join in their lesson and learn to adapt without weapons."

"But-"

"Hand over your weapons, Lavinia."

"Sensei, I-"

"Now!"

I flinched. Sensei was staring down at me, his free hand held out. I gulped the large lump in my throat as I slowly pulled out my kamas and placed them in his hand.

"The other one, as well," he said firmly.

I stared up at him for a moment, then slowly removed my tessen from the holster. I looked down at my tessen, then sighed as I placed it in his hand. Sensei then turned and walked off with all of our weapons in his hands.

* * *

"C'mon, Nia, it's not that big of a deal."

It was late at night, and none of us have left the lair since we arrived. As soon as Sensei had left with our weapons, I had immediately ran into my room and hadn't come out since. I know it's a typical teenage move, but I wasn't trying to pout or pitch a fit. I was just really upset, not with Sensei, but with myself. I've never made Sensei this mad, or even unhappy, and I didn't like the feeling that it left me with. It felt like a bed of rocks was resting in my stomach.

After sitting in my room for about an hour, Raph finally decided to come in. I allowed him in, but I didn't want to leave. I remained laying in my bed, laying on my stomach, arms folded and chin buried in my pillow. Though Raph wasn't normally the one to care about how upset people were, he often made an exception for me. But, even though he continued to talk with me and even though his words comforted me a little bit, I still didn't want to leave my room.

"It kinda is, Raph," I said, not looking at him, still staring into my pillow.

"Nia, Splinter's just a little pissed at us, that's all," Raph said reasonably. "Hey, Mikey and I are always getting on his nerves. Well… Mikey does more stupid crap than I do, but still."

"Raph," I said. "I've never let Sensei down in my life. And he sounded so… disappointed in me…"

I groaned as I lowered my head and buried my face into my pillow. The rocks in my stomach seemed to grow even heavier. I heard Raph sigh, and the weight of the bed shifted as he moved closer to me. Then, I felt him put a hand on my back.

"He could never be disappointed in you. You're his little girl, remember?"

I lifted my head and slowly turned to look at Raph. He had his usual firm expression, but his vivid green eyes were softer than usual. He gave me a small grin, and I smiled at him. I slowly pushed myself up as I sat up on my legs.

"You think so?"

"Trust me, Nia," said Raph. "The day you let Sensei down like that is the day we work for the Shredder, and that'll never happen."

I snorted. Raph patted my back a bit as he lowered his hand, and I smiled more at him.

"Thanks Raph."

"No prob," he said, then he raised his hand and ruffled my bangs. "Stop bein' so moppy, yah big baby."

"Hey!" I laughed, swatting his hand away and brushing my bangs back.

Raph rolled his eyes and stood up, walking away and opening the door. I stood up and followed him out the door and down the hallway.

As we entered the living room I saw that the others were still doing their own thing. Leo was watching 'Space Heroes', Mikey was laying upside down on the couch while playing on his phone, and Donnie was pacing back and forth, looking nervous.

Before I could ask what was wrong his phone went off. Donnie stopped pacing and pulled his phone out.

"Oh, it's our spy," he said dully.

"Alright, let's hear it," Raph said as he ran over to him.

We all crowded around Donnie as he pressed the answer button and put the phone on speaker.

"We're here," he said.

"_This is special agent Delta Niner calling from behind enemy lines," _Pulverizer's voice aired lowly from the other line.

"Spit it out, Timothy," Donnie said tiredly.

"_Okay, the mutation experiment is going down on Broomstreet in the Bowery,"_ Timothy said quickly. _"They're on their way there now. And that's not all. You ready for this? Are you ready…?"_

"Yes," we all groaned.

"_Shredder's gonna mutate just one Foot soldier as a test, and guess what? I volunteered!"_

"What?!" Donnie and I gasped.

"_I know! Isn't that cool?"_

"No!" Donnie shouted into the phone. "Why would you think that's cool?!"

"_This is my chance to be like you guys!" _Pulverizer said happily. _"Throw some mutagen on me, and BOOM! I'm a super hero! I'm takin' Shredder down!"_

I slapped myself in the forehead. "He's lost it. He's completely lost it!"

"The mutagen is dangerous!" Donnie stressed. "You have _no idea _what it could do to you!"

"_Once I mutate, I'll unleash my might mutant powers on Shredder! I'll be all Wataaa! Sheeka! Haha! Yeah, take that, pointy man!"_

Then, in the background, I could hear the sound of what was the rumbling of a motorcycle. Pulverizer's voice lowered.

"_Oh, gotta go! Signing off!"_

"Tim, wait!" I said, but he already hung up.

"I knew we should've gotten that guy out when we had the chance," Donnie said furiously.

"Well, we're gonna get him out now," said Leo. "Let's go."

Without another word we all ran straight for the exit, leaping over the turnstiles. We all piled into the Shellraiser, immediately going to our designated areas. Leo leapt into the driver's seat, buckled up, and instantly started the van up.

* * *

We had only been driving for about a minute and Leo was driving at top speed. We made a few turns and passed about a block before we saw a large group of motorcycles driving by.

"The Foot!" Raph shouted.

Leo sped out of the alley right into the group of cycles, causing two of them to get knocked off course. Leo sped up and caught up with the rest of the group, which was attempting to speed away. I looked up at one of the screens and saw one of the cycles falling behind, on purpose. I looked closer and saw that it was Fishface. He suddenly skidded his bike to a halt, whipped it around, and started speeding towards us.

"Guys, Fish Sticks is coming at us," I warned.

"Eat hot trash, fish boy!" I heard Raph shout.

He pressed the trigger and fired several garbage balls from the canon. Fishface swerved and dodged almost all of them, but the last one slammed right into his bike, causing him to fly off. This proved to be bad as a second later he landed on top of the Shellraiser.

"Uh oh," Raph muttered.

"He's on the roof!" Donnie shouted.

"I got this!"

Raph leapt from his seat and climbed up to the hatch on the roof. He opened it, poked his head out, and a second later he yelled and then fell back down. I stared at gasped. For a moment it looked as though Raph had been decapitated, and Mikey screamed. Then, a second later, Raph's head reemerged out of his shell with a loud pop.

"Alright, plan B."

Raph jumped into his seat and spun the large handles that controlled the cannon. I looked up at the screen and saw that the cannon had slammed into Fishface and brought out so that he was hanging over the street.

"Whatcha gonna do now?" Raph jeered.

I looked at Raph for a moment before looking back at the screen. Fishface was holding onto the gun of the cannon to keep from falling into the street. Then, suddenly, he kicked one of his robotic legs out and hit the tire, tearing it to shreds. The van gave a sudden lurch and I yelped as I toppled out of my own seat and onto the floor.

"Why do I ask these questions? _Why?!_" Raph asked miserably.

The Shrellraiser skidding for a few seconds before it tipped and suddenly landed on its side. I slammed into the wall of the van and hit my head hard, and I saw stars for a moment. I groaned as I sat up and looked around. The others were all over the place, but they looked unharmed. I looked around and my eyes landed on a screen, and I saw Fishface pick up a nearby motorcycle.

"I'll deal with you soon enough, freaks!" he shouted before hopping onto his bike and speeding off.

We all quickly got out of the van as quickly as we could. We all stood there, wondering what to do now.

"Splinter once told me the Pulverizer is my responsibility," said Donnie. "I gotta stop him!"

Donnie ran over to the bottom of the Shellraiser, which was laying upright, and he pulled a lever. A second later the Stealth Cycle was deployed. Donnie snatched a helmet and put it on his head, hopped into the cycle, started it up and before we could even blink he sped off.

"Ugh, c'mon," Leo ordered. "We'll go on foot."

* * *

**Donnie's P.O.V.**

There was a loud crash as the cycle smashed through the glass. I leapt out from my seat, summersaulting in the air as I came down and landed right where Timothy was. I grabbed him and instantly shoved him several feet back, staying beside him. I straightened up and looked forward. I saw Dogpound and several Foot soldier had surrounded me.

"Get them!" shouted Dogpound.

I reached behind me to grab my staff, but froze when I felt nothing but air. I had forgotten that I had no weapon.

"Huh-? Oh, sewer apples!"

I quickly glanced around, trying to find something that I could use as a weapon, and my eyes landed on a nearby broom leaning against a crate. I ran forward, kicking into the air, then leapt up as I grabbed it. I turned and smashed the end of the broom on a soldiers head and he fell to the ground. I spun the broom above my head as two more Foot soldiers came at me. I raised the boom and blocked both of their attacks, then shoved one end into a soldier and knocked him back. I then swung the boom at the other and smacked him off of his feet.

I looked behind me to see if Timothy was alright, and saw to my surprise that he was gone. I quickly looked around and saw that he was running right for the large mutagen dispenser.

"Now's my chance!" he shouted.

Before I could do anything I was shoved forward and I landed on my plastron. I turned my head and kicked my foot back, kicking the soldier in the crotch before picking the broom back up and knocking him back. I turned and started running forward, trying to catch up to Timothy. He had just reached up and started pulling on the large lever when I caught up to him.

"Timothy, no!" I shouted, grabbing his shoulders and yanking him back. "What're yah doing?!"

"I'm gonna be a mutant, like you!" he said gleefully.

"Um, doing the mutation thing is notoriously unpredictable," I explained, then shouted in his face. "AND REALLY STUPID!"

Suddenly, something grabbed me by my shell and threw me back. It was Dogpound. I quickly got back on my feet and leapt out of the way as he made to smash me with his large fist.

"I'll save you, Donatello!"

"Wait!" I yelled. "Didn't you hear what I- No!"

Dogpound made to come at me again, and I smacked his face with the end of the broom. I quickly summersaulted under him as I kicked my foot up and kicked him in the face. I straightened up, leapt up, and landed right on his giant head before leaping off and running towards Pulverizer.

"I'm- saving- _you!_"

On the last word and jumped forward and pushed Timothy out from underneath the dispenser again. But even as I pushed him out of the way I caught a glimpse of Fishface before I was suddenly kicked extremely hard by one of his powerful, robotic legs. The blow sent me flying back into the air, and as I put my arms out my hand came into contact with the end of a chain and I grabbed it on instinct. I swung up high by the roof before swinging down back towards Fishface, letting out a loud "Woohohooo!" I reached Fishface and kicked him once, twice, three times in the head before he went down.

I released the chain and ran back over to Timothy, who remained crouched on the ground.

"Okay, now we're getting out of here," I said.

But even as I said this I saw that the remaining Foot soldiers had gotten back up and were started to surround both of us.

"Hopefully…"

_Crash! _I snapped my head up and saw four familiar figures falling from the skylight; three with shells and one with a white hoodie. They all landed in front of me and Pulvierizer, and I saw that it was my brothers and sister. They had finally come.

They all straightened up, ready for a fight, and reached by their belts for their weapons, but came up with nothing.

"Oh yeah, no weapons. Ugh… Spread out, guys," Leo ordered. "Remember, anything can be a weapon."

Instantly, they all spread out, and they all found something just as quickly as I had. Raph tore a piece of 2x4 off of a crate, Mikey found a long chain, Leo picked up a metal bar, and Nia grabbed a monkey wrench. I spun my broom above my head as I ran forward, swinging it into the nearby Foot soldiers.

"My mutation!"

I froze and turned around. Pulverizer was back underneath the dispenser again, and this time I was too late to stop him. He had already pulled on the lever by the time I looked at him. The bottom of the dispenser opened, and a large slab of mutagen fell down and landed right on his head.

A second later, Pulverizer started to scream.

"Oh, it burns!" he cried. "I didn't think it would burn so bad! Ahh! It really burns!"

"Jesus H. Christ!" Nia yelped.

"What happened?" Raph demanded.

"Pulverizer got his wish," I said fearfully.

"And we got a problem," said Leo.

"That dude's straight nasty!" Mikey yelled.

Pulverizer looked demented, screaming in pain as he flailed his arms around, stumbling as he walked towards us.

"Holy mackerel!" I cried.

Me and the others all backed away and quickly limbed the pile of stacked crates to avoid getting touched.

"Timothy is jacked up!" said Mikey.

Pulverizer stumbled around, and the remaining Foot soldiers scattered to avoid him. The mutagen on his head appeared to be melting off of him. Pulverizer stumbled and then fell into a larger puddle of mutagen. There was a sizzling sound and steam erupted, and suddenly, Timothy wasn't just covered in ooze, it was melting into him. In a split second, the mutagen had molded with him, and something nasty and horrible shot up as the steam evaporated. I couldn't explain in great detail what I saw. The closest description I could come up with was that it looked like a giant, blob of acid green jelly with organs floating inside it, along with two eyeballs and a pair of lips.

Timothy let out a loud screech as he flailed what looked like jelly tentacles instead of arms, and then started sliding after the Foot soldiers, who all ran away.

"Umm, anyone else hear beeping?" Nia asked.

I looked over at her and then suddenly, I could hear a soft beeping too, and it was coming from right under me. I kneeled down and leaned over the edge of the crate. I saw that there was a small bomb attached to the crate.

"Uh oh," I said. "The entire warehouse is rigged with plastic explosives!"

I looked up in time to see two Foot soldiers running up to us. I raised my broom to block, but one of them sliced it in half with a katana. I quickly used both pieces to knock both soldiers off the pile of crates. I heard the louds creaking of a door, and looked up to see Dogpound by the door, several soldiers running out.

"Let's go!" Dogpound shouted. "Lock 'em in!"

I looked down to see Timothy had started advancing on us now. He screamed and then, his tentacle extened out to us and we had to leapt off of the crates, because a second later he smashed them with his tentacles. As soon as we landed, we all made a run for the door. But just as we reached it Dogpound slammed it shut. Leo grabbed the handle and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Not cool, man!" Nia shouted. "Not cool!"

"We're trapped!" said Leo, then he turned on me. "We need to get out, now!"

"But, what about him?" I asked, gesturing at Timothy.

Timothy turned and then started to advance on us again. At this moment, it seemed we all decided to throw caution to the winds, because we all suddenly threw all of our weapons at Pulverizer. They all stabbed through him like we were stabbing through gelatin. A few seconds later there was a loud sizzling sound, and the remaining pieces of our weapons fell to the floor.

"He just ate our weapons!" Mikey shouted.

"And it looks like we're next," I said fearfully.

Pulverizer screeched and then started charging at us, flailing his arms in an attempt to snatch us. We all started leaping back to avoid getting touched and burned.

"Pulverizer, it's us!" I shouted. "The turtles!"

At once, the others started screaming as well.

"Pulverizer!"

"Pulverizer, it's us!"

"Hey, Pulverizer!"

"Pulverizer, please!"

But no matter how loudly or clearly we yelled, nothing seemed to get through to him. Timothy had us cornered now, and was coming closer. Wait a minute…

"Timothy!" I screamed. "Timothy!"

Finally, Timothy stopped. He lowered his tentacles and stopped screaming, and finally calmed down.

"That's right, Timothy," I said calmly. "It's us, the turtles."

"It's alright, Timothy," I heard Nia say. "No one wants to hurt you."

Timothy looked at us for a moment before slowly turning to the side. He let out a strangled cry and touched his face with his tentacles. I knew that he must have looked at the windows and seen his reflection. Suddenly, he whipped back around and screamed again, charging right at us. We all jumped and leapt out of the way and landed behind him.

"We still gotta get outta here," said Leo. "Let's go!"

"Not without- Timothy," I said firmly.

"And how do you suppose we get that blob outta here?" Mikey asked.

"I got an idea," I said. "Raph, get the Stealth Cycle. Mikey, Nia, get Timothy's attention."

"It better take less than 10 seconds," Leo warned.

"Leo, c'mon," I told him. "I need you to jump up there, and wait for me to tell you when to jump, and when I say so, jump onto the tank."

Leo nodded. I ran over to the tank and stopped underneath, holding my hands out. Leo ran forward and leapt up, his foot landing in my hands and he bounced up, landing on top of the machine.

"C'mon Timothy, over here!"

"Here, Timothy!"

"Guys, lead him over here," I said. "Leo, get ready to jump."

Both Mikey and Nia continued the draw Timothy closer and closer underneath the dispenser. Then, as Mikey walked backwards he tripped and fell underneath the tank. Timothy continued forward, but Nia lunged forward and shoved Mikey out of the way.

"Now!" I shouted.

Leo leapt off of the machine and landed on the tank, causing it to come down and fall on top of Timothy. He went straight through and filled the tank completely, bits of slime flying everywhere.

"Raph!"

The cycle shot forward and rammed into the tank, making it shoot up. I snatched up a trash lid and jumped up, grabbing onto the tank and putting the lid over it. We landed onto the closed up cycle and the others jumped on before Raph started it up and started racing towards a window.

_BOOM!_

There was a loud bang and a sudden rush of air, and we went flying, cycle and all. We soared out into the open before landing in the street, tumbling and rolling before coming to a halt. There was a loud clang, and I looked up to see the tank that we had put Timothy in right in front of me, slowly rolling back until it came to a stop just a foot away from me.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

"Do you think Timothy is happy with his new state of being?" Master Splinter asked as he observed Timothy in the tank.

"Seems that way," said Leo. "He wanted to be a mutant, and he got his wish."

Mikey raised his hand and started tapping on the glass of the tank. Donnie frowned down at his little brother and pulled his hand away.

"Donnie, we're letting you keep him," said Raph. "But you gotta stash him in your lab so I don't have to look at him."

I rolled my eyes. Donnie turned away from his brother and reached up and pressed a hand to the glass.

"I promise, Timothy," he said. "One day I'll turn yah back."

Timothy stared at us. He hadn't made any sort of noise since being put inside the tank. I don't think he could even talk anymore, despite having a mouth.

I took a step forward and pressed a hand on the tank.

"Don't worry, Tim," I said. "You'll be back to normal soon."

Timothy turned his eyes towards me, then he let out a whining sound as he smiled at me.

"At least he still recognizes us," said Donnie. "Alright, let's get him into the lab."

Donnie walked forward and stood on one side and Raph stood on the other side. They both grabbed onto the tank and then lifted it up before slowly starting to move him towards Donnie's lab. Leo walked beside them, and Mikey leapt into the pit and grabbed one of the game controllers.

"Mario Cart, I missed you!"

I giggled. It was really late now, and I was starting to get tired, and now all I could think about was getting into bed and listening to my T-Pod.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed," I said. "Night, Sensei."

"Goodnight, Lavinia."

Sensei and I bowed to each other before he left for the dojo, and I went towards the bedrooms. But just as I reached the hall I felt my phone buzzing. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked down at it. The caller ID read unknown. I stared down at phone. Thinking it was someone who dialed the wrong number, I clicked the answer button and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

I gapsed. It was Karai. I quickly looked around to see if any of the others were nearby. Sensei had already gone into the dojo, Mikey was playing Mario Cart, and the others were all in Donnie's lab. Making sure not to make any noise, I slowly stepped back and climbed over the turnstiles. I walked down the path until I was hidden behind the wall before a put the phone back up to my ear.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"_We got a problem"_ she said._ "And it's bad. But, I can't explain here, it's too risky."_

I thought for a moment.

"Do you know where Java Café is?"

"_Yes. I'll be there in 10 minutes. Meet me on the roof, and don't be late."_

And with that, Karai hung up.

* * *

It's a good thing I know a shortcut to Java Café, because otherwise I probably would've been late. I looked across the street at the bright café. It was completely dark inside and there was a sign hanging on the door that read "closed." But, this didn't matter. I didn't need to go inside.

I quickly crossed the street and ran towards the building. I found a set of what looked like thick pipes that probably lead to the building's plumming. I grabbed onto the pipes and started to climb them up the building. I went as high as the pipes could go, and then pushed myself up. I grabbed onto the edge of the roof and then pulled myself up, swinging my leg over the edge and stepping onto the roof.

I stepped away from the ledge and brushed the dirt off of my hoodie. I was starting to reconsider having a white hoodie, seeing as how I seemed to be getting dirty a lot more these days.

"Good, you're here."

I turned and saw Karai sitting on top of an air conditioning box. She had one leg propped up and her arms folded.

"A ninja's never late," I said. "Especially if that ninja is a kunoichi."

"No kidding."

"So, what's the emergency?"

Karia didn't answer immediately. She hesitated and appeared to consider her words before speaking.

"Remember how your brothers destroyed that Kraang ship?" she asked, and I nodded. "Well, not all of the piolets in that ship perished in the river. One of them got out, and Shredder has it."

"You have a Kraang droid?" I asked her.

"Just the alien," said Karai. "Shredder's been holding it captive for the past few weeks. He's mostly been interrogating it, trying to find out why the Kraang were hunting you and your brothers."

"I don't suppose you found why, huh?"

Karai raised her eyebrow as she looked at me. She held her gaze for a moment before answering.

"Remember last week when I said O'Neil was the center of an alien conspiracy? Well, that's how I found out."

"Figures," I said. "How come she's the center of their plan?"

Karai shrugged. "Don't know. All I know is that she's the center of whatever they're planning."

I folded my arms. "What's this Kraang captive got to do with what you have to tell me?"

Karai's eyes narrowed. "Shredder's been spending a lot of time around that thing," she said. "Too much time. He's realized that he and those aliens have something in common."

"What's that?"

"A common enemy."

I felt my eyes widen as my jaw fell open. What she serious?

"Shredder's working with the Kraang?" I asked in an unbelievable voice.

"He's already talked to me and his other henchmen about it," she said. "And they're onboard. As long as it means you and your brothers are gone, they don't care who they work with."

I shook my head. "I don't get it. Why would Shredder decide now to work with the Kraang? You said he wanted nothing to do with-"

"I know!" Karai suddenly snapped. "That jerk can't make up his mind. His head is all set around his stupid vendetta and he doesn't care what he has to do! These things want to take over our planet and he doesn't care, as long as he gets his revenge. It's so stupid!"

Karai let out an angry noise as she folded her arms and turned her back to me. I stared at her as she had her little fit. This was odd. She had to be one of Shredder's head employee's at least, if not then she was definitely of higher rank. And yet, here she was, complaining about him, again.

"Let me ask you something, Karai," I said. "Why do you stick with the Shredder?"

Karia turned to look at me, arms still folded, but now her face showed nothing but confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"Why do you work for him? You've said it yourself, he drives you crazy, and it's obvious you don't agree with his decision to work with the Kraang, even if you both are our enemy. So why do you bother with him? If you disagree with him so much why don't you just… yah know, leave?"

Karia's face fell and she stared at me. She looked as though she had just been asked a severely complicated math problem. But I wanted and answer, and I waited patiently for her to respond.

"It's… not that simple," she said, her folded arms tightening up as she glanced away from me. "I don't exactly have a choice."

I stared at her. Then, I felt my feet move forward as I stopped a foot away from her. Surprisingly, I felt my arm move and I saw my hand reach out. Before I could even think about what I was doing I put my hand on her shoulder. Karai's head quickly turned and her gaze fell on my hand. A second later she looked up at me, eyebrows slightly raised.

"We all have a choice," I told her seriously, and I lowered my hand back to my side. "And right now you're choosing to stay with Shredder even though he drives you insane. Why?"

Karai eyed me curiously. "Leo hasn't told you, has he?"

"Hasn't told me what?"

Karia sighed and turned her head away from me again.

"I stick with the Shredder for the same reason that you stick with your master," she said quietly.

I raised an eyebrow as I asked, "What do you mean?"

There was a long pause, and Karai didn't look at me. I was starting to feel a bit annoyed. What was going on? Finally, after a while, Karai finally turned her head to look at me.

"Nia… Shredder isn't just my master… he's my father."

* * *

**Hey guys, it's me! I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I'm sorry that it took me a while, but I wasn't able to upload it the other day. But, I got it up and I hope you liked it.**

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE!**

**I just wanna remind you guys about the story I'm writing with my friend "TheMysteriousSecretiveWriter". Her and I are working really hard on it and we're having a lot of fun with it already. We're working on the next chapter as we speak, so please go to her stories check out the first chapter and please leave some reviews. The more reviews and views we got, the more motivation we'll have for it. Hope you enjoy! BYE BYE!**


	30. Parasitica

Ch. 25  
Parasitica

"Ugh… Another day, another Kraang hunt…"

"Story of our lives, Mikey," I said.

After the incident with Timothy last week, it was good for us to get back into the swing of things. Sure, once again we were met with a Kraang-less night so far, but it was better than doing nothing.

Needless to say, Mikey was probably more bored then I was. For the past 10 minutes he had just been sitting and spinning around in his chair. This wasn't a good thing. When Mikey got bored, he often did everything he could to get some entertainment, which often led to him getting into messes he shouldn't have. Sure enough, as I turned I saw that Mikey had left his seat and was slowly creeping up behind Raph.

"Hey, Raph!" Mikey piped up, and Raph jumped. "Fire the weapons!"

Raph glared at him. "I don't think so."

"See? That's your problem," Mikey draped an arm around Raph's shoulders. "If I was in charge of weapons, I'd be firin' up things all the time! That mailbox? _Blam! _That newsstand? _Boom! _That port-a-potty? _Splat!_"

I scrunched up my nose. "Gross."

"And that's why you're not in charge of the weapons," said Leo. "Now get back to your station and tell me where to go."

Mikey rolled his eyes and shuffled back to his area, sitting back down in his chair.

"Hmm… Okay, uh, you should turn right… 3 blocks ago."

The other three groaned as I sighed, "Mikey…"

It took us 20 minutes to get back on track after Mikey's little mix-up. It took us another 10 minutes to actually find the building that we were supposed to be checking out tonight. We parked inside of an alley across the street of the building before getting out of the Shellraiser.

"This must be the hidden Kraang lab," said Donnie.

"Let's trash the place!" Raph said immediately.

"Hold on, Raph," said Leo. "This is a recon mission. We go in there, find out what the Kraang are up to, and _then_ trash the place."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Fine. Wake me when we get to the trashing part."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. "Let's go."

But when we actually entered the building, we found something disturbing. Yes, it was obviously a hidden lab that the Kraang were using, but that wasn't all. What was strange was the fact that the place was completely trashed, as though someone deliberately tried to just make a mess. Tables and chairs flipped on their sides, broken glass on the floor, and several Kraang-droid body parts laying everywhere.

"Aww man!" Raph whined. "Someone beat us to it!"

"Sorry, Raph," I said, patting his shell. "Better luck next time."

"It looks like one of their mutagen experiments go away from 'em," said Leo, who was looking at the droid parts laying in front of him.

As I walked around the room I looked to see if there was anything that showed a sign of what made this mess. I looked over at Donnie, and I saw that he was looking at a poster on the wall, which appeared to be a diagram of wasps, ants, and a few other bugs.

"Seems they were doing experiments on arthropods," he said. "Weird."

I walked over to what looked like a large filing cabinet and propped myself onto it. I watched as Mikey sat in a rolling chair and starting rolling around the room. Donnie walked over to a cabinet and opened it up, and it revealed a large supply of lab equipment.

"Hey, this equipment's still good," he said, smiling, then lowered his head to look at a lower level. "Woo-hoohoo! Nice centrifuge!"

I snorted, and Raph shook his head.

"If I ever get that excited about a centrifuge, just put me outta my misery," he told us.

I rolled my eyes. I glanced over at Mikey, who I saw had stood up from his chair and seemed to be looking at something across the room.

"Hey, Donnie," he said. "How big do yah think one of those arthropods might be?"

"Well, a bee's about 4 mm, and a wasp would be 6," he answered.

"THEN WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Mikey screamed, pointing behind us.

We all instantly turned around to look behind us, and what I saw gave me chills. I caught a glimpse of big, bright eyes before it came out. A wasp about the size of a large dog came crawling out of the darkness. It landed its large eyes on us before open its large wings and flying straight towards us.

"Duck!" I shouted.

The boys and I ducked as the giant bug zoomed over us. I looked around at it to see it spin around and zoom back towards us. We all ducked, but Raph was too late and the bug ran right into him. It pinned him against the tipped filing cabinet and snapped at him, trying to bite him.

"Ahh! Get it off, get it off!" Raph yelled.

Donnie ran forward, took out his Bo staff, and swung it at the wasp, knocking it off of Raph. The bug squealed and screeched as it advanced onto Donnie. The turtle ducked and avoided the wasp as he spun his staff to the side, preparing to strike again. Then, Raph, who had gotten back on his feet, ran straight at the bug with his sais at the ready. He swung, but the wasp rammed right into him, knocked him into the air, and squished him against the ceiling.

Raph fell with a thud onto the floor. The bug turned and went for Donnie again. I took this time to quickly go forward and grab Raph, dragging him over to the hiding spot me and Mikey had just recently occupied. A few seconds later, both Leo and Donnie joined us.

"We need a plan, and fast!" said Leo.

"I know!" Mikey piped up. "I'll catch 'im with my kusarigama chain!"

It sounded like a good idea to me, but Leo shook his head.

"That wasp is too strong," he said. "How about this? Mikey, you get it to chase you, and we'll ambush it."

Mikey glared at Leo. "Why don't we ever do _my_ plans?"

"Because they're _your_ plans. Now go!"

Mikey rolled his eyes and groaned irritably, but stood up and jumped out of the hiding spot.

"Hey wasp!" he yelled, and I had to resist the temptation to laugh as I saw him wiggle his shell at the bug. "Come and get it!"

The wasp screeched, and Mikey instantly took off, yelling like a maniac. He started circling the room, the wasp right on his tail.

"He's really turned running and screaming into an art form," Raph said casually.

"Well, at least he's good at something, right?" said Donnie.

Mikey had started running in circles, the wasp still chasing. Then, he tripped and fell on his front.

"Goodish," Donnie said dully.

I frowned at him. "Mikey's good a plenty of stuff, Don-"

"On my mark," Leo cut across me.

I groaned irritably as I got into position with the others. The wasp buzzed angrily as it made to sting Mikey, who moved out of the way and started running in circles again. After a few laps, I could tell that the moment was about to happen.

"Now!" Leo shouted.

We all leapt up and made to catch the wasp just as it came up in front of us. Suddenly, a kusarigama chain came out of nowhere and wrapped around the wasp, tugging it away. The guys and I fell onto a heap the floor with loud thuds.

"Ha!" Mikey laughed. "How yah like me now?"

The wasp suddenly got up off the floor and started zooming around, and it dragged Mikey along with it. Mikey swung around on his chain and then slammed right into me, Donnie and Raph. They were shoved back into the wall, I was knocked a few feet away from then and into a desk.

"A lot less than I did a few seconds ago," Raph said angrily.

I heard the buzzing of the wasp draw near again, and I sat up on my knees as I snatched my kamas from my belt in defense. Leo, who had avoided being knocked over, whipped out his katana, ready to fight. Mikey was dragged for a few more seconds before he finally let go of the chain and went tumbling, falling into a heap by Raph and Donnie. I turned back to Leo, and gasped when I saw that the wasp was advancing on him, but Leo, eyes on his brothers, did not see it.

There was a second, barely more than a heartbeat, in which I completely lost all sense of caution.

"No!"

I dropped my kamas and instantly sprang forward, pushing Leo to the side. A second later there was a sharp, stinging pain in my left shoulder.

* * *

**Raph's P.O.V**

"AH!"

I heard Nia scream and instantly sprang to my feet, and so did the others. But, before we could do anything the wasp floated over towards us. It buzzed at us for a moment, then turned on its back and fell to the ground with a loud thump.

"See?" Mikey said gleefully. "My plan worked, I tired it out!"

"You didn't tire it out," said Donnie. "The wasp died because it lost its stinger."

I looked down at the bug. Sure enough, the bug's end was empty of any stinger.

"Oh, it lost it alright," I heard Nia say. "Lost it in me!"

I snapped my head up and saw Leo helping Nia to her feet. I stared in shock as I saw the end of the long, black stinger coming out of her left shoulder.

"Nice going, Mikey!" Leo snapped.

"Oh, geez…" Mikey moaned. "Nia, I'm real sorry."

"It's okay, Mikey," she said. "It's just a sting, no big deal."

_No big deal? That thing is frickin' huge! _I covered my mouth as I stared at the stinger. Donnie walked forward towards Nia, and put a hand on her arm as he grabbed the stinger.

"Hold still," he said gently, and then he pulled the stinger out.

"Ow!"

"Are you okay, Nia?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I'm just little sore now," Nia smiled. "I'll be okay, I promise."

I sighed with relief. I looked over at Donnie, and noticed that the braniac was looking at the stinger with a curious look in his eyes.

"What is it, Donnie?" asked Leo, who had noticed Donnie too.

"It's just… mutations are generally anthropomorphic," he explained. "I've never seen mutagen create giants like this before."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. _Real_ fascinating, Donnie."

"Wow! Guys, check this out."

I blinked and turned around. None of us had noticed that Nia had walked away until now. She was kneeling on the ground and appeared to be looking down at something. We all walked forward to see what it was, and I saw what looked like a giant, yellow bean.

"It's some kind of egg," said Donnie.

"Stand back," Mikey said confidently. "I'll handle this."

"I'm betting on the egg," I muttered.

Now, normally when I make a wisecrack like this, Nia would laugh. What she did instead was grab Mikey's wrist as he pulled out his nunchucks.

"Stop!" she said harshly, and she released Mikey's hand. "We can't hurt it."

We stared at her, silent for a moment.

"Are you alright, Nia?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

"Guys, this egg is evidence," she explained. "We came here to find out what the Kraang were up to, and this egg is the only clue we have to finding out what they were doing here. We need to take it back to the lair so Donnie can take a look at it."

"Uh, Leo?" I muttered. "Could you maybe tell her that she's acting a little crazy?"

Leo looked over at me. "Well… it could be beneficial if Donnie analyzed it, so…"

"What?!" I snapped. "Oh, right! Great idea! Let's take the mutant wasp egg into our home where we live! What's the worst that could hap-"

"We can't just leave it here, Raphael," Nia turned to look at me. "Look, I'll just watch over it, okay? You won't even know it's there. I promise."

I stared at her. Was she crazy? I looked over at Leo, hoping he would do something right for once. But he just sighed and nodded.

"Alright. We'll take it back home and let Donnie check it out."

Nia smiled. "Thanks, Leonardo."

"I'll get it!" Mikey said brightly, and he reached for the egg.

"Back off!" Nia snapped, and Mikey yelped as he leapt back.

I stared in surprise. Nia never got angry at us.

"Dude," I spoke up. "Are you alright? 'Cause, unmotivated bursts of anger are kinda my thing."

"Holding this egg is like holding a baby, and Michelangelo can't be trusted to hold fragile items," Nia said as she gently picked the egg up in her arms. "I'll just carry it myself, no problem."

Nia walked forward, pushing past us and she walked towards the exit. I looked over at Mikey and saw that he looked genuinely hurt.

"Dude… I think she likes that egg more than me," he said sadly.

"Well, the egg talks less than you, so there's that," I said, putting an arm around his shoulders as we followed Nia out the door.

* * *

Leo pulled up to the lair entrance and the Shellraiser slowly came to a stop. He put the thing in park and we all got up. Nia was out of her seat and walking out the door long before us, still carrying that damn egg.

"Nia, I got a really bad feeling about keeping that thing in the lair," I told her as I stepped out of the van.

"Raphael, we've been over this," Nia said firmly, turning to look at me. "This egg could tell us what was going on in the lab. Think of all the things we could learn from it, just by watching it?"

"Nia, Raph does have a point," said Leo. "That thing might give us some clues, but we have no idea what it could do to us. We have to be cautious."

"Look, I said I would watch over it, and that's that. You'll be perfectly safe."

"Safe?" I said irritably. "You know what's inside wasp eggs, right? Here's a hint; _wasps_!"

"That's not a hint, dude," said Mikey. "You gave it away."

Nia turned her back to us and continued forward, Mikey following behind her. I looked over at Donnie, who shrugged and walked forward too. I looked at Leo, who sighed irritably and followed Donnie. I face palmed myself as I followed them inside.

Surprisingly, it took a moment for us to get Nia to put the egg down. She was like a mother holding her newborn baby the way she was treating that egg. But, after bringing in the beanbag chair from the living room into Donnie's lab, she finally set it down onto the cushion.

"Now, be careful with it," she said cautiously.

"I'm always careful, Nia," said Donnie, who was gazing at the egg with interest. "Fascinating!"

Then Donnie picked up a nearby scalpel and raised it up to the egg.

"Stop!" Nia cried. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Dissecting it," Donnie said simply.

"Are you crazy?!" Nia ran forward, and to my surprise she actually shoved Donnie back. "Donatello, we only have one egg! If you dissect it, you could destroy any evidence it holds! We should keep it safe and let it develop."

Donnie stared at her, eyes wide. He seemed surprised by her behavior too. We all were. Nia has never been this aggressive and loud before. She was always so sweet and clam, but this was completely opposite.

"Well then," Donnie said. "I guess I'll just keep… staring at it…"

"Sure you will," Nia said irritably, then pointed off in a different direction. "You can watch it from over there."

Donnie stared at her for a moment before slowly taking a large step backwards. He grinned slightly at her. Nia suddenly stared daggers, her brown eyes darker than usual. It was seriously freaky. Donnie quickly took several more steps back and stood beside the rest of us. Nia looked at us for a moment before slowly turning around and kneeling in front of the egg.

"Well, I think I will do… something in the other room…" Donnie said slowly, then looked over at us. "Raph, Mikey, Leo… care to join me?"

"Not unless you get more specific," Mikey said, grinning up at him.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "C'mon!"

Donnie grabbed the ends of Mikey's mask and started dragging him out of the lab. Leo and I looked at each other for a moment before Leo followed them out. I turned my head to look at Nia, who was still looking down at the egg. I shook my head slightly before turning and leaving the lab.

* * *

"Okay, Nia is acting totally weird, right?" Donnie asked us.

"'Weird' might not be a good enough word to use," said Leo. "She's not acting like herself."

"Yeah! It's like she's obsessed with that egg!" I said angrily.

"Let's ask Splinter what to do," Mikey suggested.

"Good idea!" said Leo brightly. "He'll know what to do! Where is he?"

But Donnie shook his head. "No dice, guys. Looks like he took April out for a training exercise."

I curled my hands into fists. Great. The one time we seriously need help, and Splinter isn't here.

"Okay, look," I said. "We gotta destroy that egg before it hatches."

"Agreed," said Donnie. "But, she won't let us get anywhere near it."

"Well, maybe we make her come to us!" Mikey said confidently.

"Alright," Leo said. "Let's get Nia away from that egg, and then destroy it as soon as we can."

For once I was in complete agreement with Leo. Anything to get Nia away from that stupid egg and back to her old self.

* * *

"Who wants pizza?" Mikey called out as he opened the large pizza box. "Nia's favorite! Pepperoni, chocolate chip, and _sprinkles_!"

"Wow. That actually is her favorite," said Donnie, sounding surprised.

"What's that supposed mean?" Mikey asked, looking offended.

"Usually whenever you order pizza, you only order your favorite," Leo said bluntly. "Like last week, when I asked you to order my favorite, and you only got yours."

"Well… I almost did this time," said Mikey. "But this is about Nia; she's way more important than jellybeans, anchovies and jalapenos. C'mon, grab a slice."

We each reached in and grabbed a slice of the pizza. We walked over to the lab doors and stood in the doorway. Nia was still sitting in front of the egg. We all started taking bites of the pizza, letting out delicious sounds.

"Nia!" Mikey sang sweetly.

"C'mon, Nia," Leo called. "You don't want us to eat all your pizza, do you?"

But Nia didn't speak, she didn't even turn to look at us. I groaned irritably. Nia loves this pizza, she'd never ignore it.

Suddenly, a thought came to my head.

"I got an idea," I told the others.

* * *

"Oh, look!" I shouted loudly. "It's a new show of 'Impractical Jokers!' And they're already on the punishment!"

"_We're in the middle of a cornfield," said Q. "And Sal, for your punishment, all you have to do is get from one side of the corn field to the other."_

"_The only rules are, you gotta hang on to that guide rope," said Murr, pointing to a red rope._

"_Guys," Sal said seriously. "I'm telling you right now, if it's a haunted maze, sh*t's gonna go down, because- I'm gonna punch someone, I don't- I-I… I don't… take haunts well."_

"_Look out!" Joe shouted, making Sal jump. Murr and Q burst into laughter._

I turn my head to see if Nia was coming out of the lab, but she wasn't there. I got up and motioned for the guys to follow me. We all went over to the lab doors and poked our heads through.

"Ohh, you're missing a great one, Nia!" said Donnie excitedly.

"It's not too late, Nia," I added. "You can still catch Sal's punishment."

But she still didn't move. I felt my face fell as I stared at the back of her head.

* * *

"Hey, Mikey!" I said loudly as we all marched into the lab. "Where are you going with Nia's sheet music that she got from Angus?"

"Well!" chimed Mikey. "We're out of toilet paper, and I thought these pages of valuable music would do the job nicely!" Mikey turned and then started rubbing the sheet music on the back of his shell. "Oh yeah, that feels great! Hope Nia doesn't see me!"

I rolled my eyes and looked up. If ruining the precious sheet music that she got from Angus wouldn't faze her, then I didn't know what would. But still, Nia didn't move, and she didn't say a word.

"Wow," muttered Donnie. "She's farther gone than I thought."

I stood there for a moment, hoping against hope that Nia would turn around, leave the egg and start acting like her normal self. But she didn't. I felt my hands curl into fists as I suddenly got angry. This wouldn't have happened if we didn't bring that damn egg into the lair.

"Alright, that tares it!" I snapped, turning around and stomping out of the lab. "That stupid egg has been messin' with Nia, and I'm sick of it! I'm destroying it tonight!"

"Raph, wait!" Leo ran forward and grabbed my arm. "We can't just barge in there and try to take the egg. With the way Nia's acting, she's become totally unpredictable. We need a plan to-"

"I'm not asking for your permission!" I snarled, snatching my arm away. "I'll do it myself if I have to!"

And with that, I turned around and stomped off to my room.

* * *

It was late. Probably about midnight now. The others had all gone to sleep, but I was wide awake and ready to fix things once and for all.

I grabbed the handles of the lab doors and slowly pried them open. I looked inside the lab until my eyes fell onto the egg. For once, Nia wasn't in front of it. She probably went and took a break finally.

I slowly made my way towards the egg, taking out one of my sais. I stood in front of the thing, gripping my weapon tightly. I raised it up high, and then drove it down to strike the egg. Suddenly, a long, curved blade came out and caught my sai, stopping it from touching the egg. I realized that the blade was that of a kama, and as I looked over I saw that it was being held my Nia, who had her head ducked so that I couldn't see her face.

"Nia, what're you doing?" I asked angrily.

Nia didn't say anything. Then she raised her head up, and what I saw made me freeze. Her eyes- her beautiful brown eyes- were now solid black, no white in them at all. What was more, they were completely empty of any emotion. They no longer had their usual warmth. They were blank and cold.

Nia suddenly grabbed my wrist, spun me around, and threw me back. I rolled over and quickly got back to my feet.

"Nia, are you crazy?" I said. "You saw what the adult did. If that thing hatches it'll try to eat us!"

Nia didn't say anything. She just glared at me as she grabbed her other kama and held it up. A second later she opened her mouth, and what appeared to be disgusting slim started to ooze from her lips as she let out a hissing snarl. I gasped in horror, then glared. Whatever was going on, I knew one thing for sure; this thing wasn't Nia.

"Alright! This freak show ends now!" I shouted, pulling out my other sai.

I let out a loud yell as I charge forward, swinging my sai down. Nia raised her blade to block it, then snapped her jaws at me, and I leapt back, surprised. Did she just try to bite me?

"C'mon Nia," I pleaded. "This isn't you. You gotta snap out of it!"

Nia snarled again before charging forward at me. I spun my sai in my hand before swinging them both at her. I didn't want to hurt her, but I still had to defend myself. Nia ducked my blows and swung her kamas at my face. She was fighting so aggressively and forcefully. Sure, under different circumstances this would've been and awesome spar, but it wasn't her.

Nia leapt into the air and dived down at me, both kamas raised. But I lifted my sais up and caught both blade. I twisted my weapons and the kamas flicked out of Nia's grasp. She made to grab at me, but ducked underneath and kicked my foot out, causing her to trip and fall to her knees.

"You're not yourself, Nia," I said, and my voice had softened. "Just let me help you. Please…"

Nia remained on the ground, shaking slightly, not making a sound. I slowly, I put my sais back into my belt. I lifted my hand forward as I gently made my way towards her. When I was about a foot away from her, she suddenly whipped around and screeched. I screamed.

Nia leapt at me and tried to grab me. I dodged her and shifted from side to side, backing away as much as I could. She ran forward, hands raised, and I grabbed her hands to keep her back. She snarled as she snapped in my face. Keeping a firm grip on her hands, I spun her around and flipped her onto her back, pinning her to the floor.

"Nia, stop!" I begged. "I don't wanna hurt you!"

Nia hissed at me. Then she snatched her hands out of my grasp and lunged forward, grabbing onto me and pushing me back. We went rolling for a moment before I finally kicked her off. I stopped rolling and sat up to catch my breath. That's when I felt it. A sharp, throbbing pain in my right arm. I lifted my arm and looked down at it. There, on my upper arm, was a dark, bruised bite mark. Nia must have bitten me when she lunged at me.

"Did you… did you just bite me?" I looked up to glare at Nia. "Nia, you _bit me_!"

I didn't expect Nia to respond; she hasn't responded to anything I've said so far. But this time, she did. She stared at me for a moment as the corner of her mouth twitched upward into a nasty smirk. It was so unlike her, sent shivers up my spine. My hands started to throb and shake suddenly.

* * *

**Mikey's P.O.V.**

_Man, I need more beauty sleep, _I thought as I shuffled into the living room. It was wicked quiet. Yeah, it was the morning, but still. Living rooms shouldn't be this quiet, right? From behind me I heard more shuffling and yawning. I turned to see Donnie and Leo coming into the living room too.

"Um… where's Raph?" asked Donnie.

"He said he was going for the egg last night," I said.

"Oh, great," said Leo. "He probably got chewed out by Nia for just barging in there. Alright, let's go see how he did."

Me and Donnie followed Leo as he walked towards the lab. To be safe, we just poked our heads inside. Nia was still in there. So was Raph. And so was the egg.

"Uh, guys?" Leo cautiously started walking towards them. "What're you doing?"

Neither of them responded. Then, at the same time, they both reached to their belts and pulled out their weapons. Me and Donnie stared.

"Uh, Raph?" Donnie laughed nervously. "Haha, ah… Whatcha up to there, bro?"

"Something's definitely wrong," I whispered to him. "He's gone all Nia-who's-not-Nia on us."

Leo looked back at us, then looked over at Raph and Nia, but didn't get any closer to them. I looked over at Donnie, who was staring at Raph.

"Look at his arm," he breathed.

I looked over at Raph and looked at his arm. I saw that there was what looked like a bite more on his upper arm. At that moment both he and Nia turned around. I gasped. Their eyes were completely black, and they had a straight up nasty look on them.

"He got bit!" said Donnie. "Nia must've bit him!"

"What do you mean 'bit him?'" Leo asked fearfully, taking several steps back.

"Raph, Nia," I said. "Snap out of it, dudes!"

Raph and Nia stared at us for a moment. Then they screamed and started running towards us. Instantly, me and Donnie turned and ran out of the lab.

"Get the doors, get the doors!" Donnie yelled.

Me and him both grabbed a door and started to pull, but as I looked in I saw Leo standing in front of Raph and Nia, swinging both of his katanas at them.

"Leo!" I yelled.

"Shut the doors!" he ordered. "Now!"

It was the last thing we wanted to do, but, what choice did we have? Donnie and I quickly shut the doors, and I pulled out my kusarigama chain out and wrapped it around the door handles, keeping them in place. We both turned and leaned against the door as we slid down to the floor.

"That oughta hold 'em," said Donnie. A second later he straightened up and said, "Mikey, the garage door!"

"On it!"

I sprang to my feet and ran out of the living room and out of the lair. I ran along the sidewalk until I came around the corner and found the garage door. I could look into the lab again, and saw that Leo was still swinging at Nia and Raph, trying to keep them back, but trying not to hurt them.

I looked up and saw that the garage door was hanging above my head. I leapt up and grabbed onto the door, trying to bright it down, but it didn't budge.

"Oh no!" I cried. "Not now! C'mon!"

I yanked on the door over and over, but it wouldn't move. Then I heard a loud grunt, and I looked down to see Leo had fallen down and was being pinned by Nia. Suddenly, Rap leapt forward, grabbed Leo's arm, and bit him.

"Ah!"

"Leo!"

Nia and Raph's heads snapped up to look at me. They both snarled at me, weird ooze dripping from their mouths. I gasped and instantly started pulling on the door again, shaking it, trying to make it fall.

"Mikey, run!" Leo yelled.

I looked up again, and saw that Nia and Raph were now running straight at me. I whimpered and whined as I pulled as much as I could on the door. They were getting closer, it was almost too late.

Suddenly, after one final shake, the garage door fell down just as Raph and Nia reached me. There was a loud bang as they both slammed into the door, and they screamed. I stepped back, wiping the back of my hand across my forehead. But even as I relaxed I couldn't help but feel the wicked amount of guilt that came over me.

"Leo…"

* * *

I was seriously freaking out about all of this. What happened to Raph and Nia? Was it going to happen to Leo too? Donnie's been on his computer for the past 10 minutes trying to look up some info on that wasp that stung Nia.

"Here it is!" he said. "The Parasitic Wasp infects animals with a virus that brainwashes them into protecting its eggs."

"You think that's the kind of wasp that stung Nia?" Mikey asked.

In the background I could hear loud banging and groaning, and I stiffened.

"A mutant version," said Donnie. "Then Nia bit Raph and passed the virus onto him," Donnie looked at me seriously. "You said you saw Leo get bitten?"

I nodded.

"Then he's infected, too," Donnie said lowly. "No doubt he's turned into one of them by now…"

I gulped, trying not to think of what I could've done to help Leo.

"So, once the egg hatches, will the guys go back to normal?" I asked hopefully.

"Not quite," said Donnie, and now he looked seriously worried. "Look what happens to the caterpillar guarding the egg."

I looked at the computer screen to see a caterpillar stinging next to a wasp egg. Donnie scrolled down and another picture came up of the wasp hatching. He scrolled down and it showed the wasp crawling on top of the caterpillar. Then the next picture came up, and…

"It's eating him!" I screamed. "IT'S EATING HIM! AHH!"

I whimpered as I fell to my knees. This was bad. This was way, _way _bad!

"What're we gonna do?" I said miserably.

"Well… I might be able to create some kind of antibody," said Donnie. "But, first I need a sample of the virus from the egg."

Before he could say more there was suddenly a large, banging sound coming from out of the kitchen. Donnie and I both yelled and reached forward and hugged each other super tightly. There was a loud crash, and we heard the sound of snarling. The guys had gotten out.

Donnie and I let go of each other and turned around, listening for more. Then, we heard the sound of loud footsteps before Nia suddenly slipped through the curtains. Her black eyes were glaring at us, her mouth slightly agar, exposing her slimy teeth. A second later there were more footsteps, and suddenly, Leo slipped in too.

"Leo…?" I breathed, surprised.

Leo snapped his head up, and let out a loud snarl, ooze flying out of his mouth, his eyes pitch black. He was one of them now.

"Oh no!" said Donnie fearfully.

Leo and Nia growled at us before lunging towards us. We both screamed as we leapt out of the way, stumbling to avoid being caught.

"No, no!" I cried. "Stay away, stay away! Ahh!"

I screamed like a baby as I leapt over the table and sprinted out of the kitchen, running into the living room. I heard Donnie yelp, and I turned to see Nia on top of him, Donnie holding her arms to keep her back. Nia kept leaning forward and snapping at him, trying to bite him.

"We have to get to the egg!" Donnie shouted. "It could be the only cure!"

Before I could respond Leo suddenly jumped at me, punching me in the face. I stumbled back but quickly recovered, straightening up to dodged the next blow. I leapt back, landing into the pit. Leo leapt at me and I jumped back out, running away. Suddenly I was stopped as something pulled on the back of my belt and I went flying back and landed on the floor of the pit.

I looked up in time to see Leo leapt up and head towards me. I quickly took out one set of nunchucks and opened them as Leo landed on me. The chain wrapped around his throat, keeping him back. He made choking sounds, but continued to snap at me. With one powerful kick, I managed to knock Leo off and send him flying backwards. I back flipped back onto my feet and turned to see Leo land in the pool.

I heard grunts and thuds and turned my head to see Donnie and Nia tumbling and rolling on the other side of the room. I spun my nunchucks as I ran forward towards them. As they fell apart Donnie made to crawl away, but Nia grabbed his ankle and pulled him back, flipping him onto his shell. She snarled and walked forward, jaw open, ready to bite him. I quickly swung my chain out and it wrapped around her, forcing her arms down to her sides. I yanked on it and pulled her back, making her fall into a heap on the ground.

I ran forward and put my hands on her to keep her down. Nia growled and struggled, and Donnie ran forward and did the same. I heard some splashing, and I looked over at the pool. Leo was gone.

"Leo?" I called out. "Where'd he go?"

Donnie stood up and looked around. He turned and walked over to his lab, peeking inside.

"Holy mackerel!" he said. "He took the egg."

I looked around. "Hey… where's Raph?"

Donnie straightened up. "Of course!" he said. "Nia and Leo must've come out here to distract us so that Raph could take the egg and hide it somewhere," he walked away from the lab doors and towards me. "He's out there, somewhere. Waiting…"

"You mean," I said, starting to panic. "He could be there, or there, _there?! _Or even-!"

_Smack! _Donnie cut me off by reaching over and slapping me across the face. I sat there for a second, stunned.

"Ow!" I snapped, glaring at him.

"Calm down, man," he said. "We'll barricade ourselves in my lab."

"So, what about Nia?"

Even though she was possessed and all, I didn't want to just leave Nia out here. So, we decided to bring her into the lab with us.

"She's a lot lighter than she looks," I said as we both carried her into the lab. Nia made a small snap at Donnie's hand, but he just moved it away and continued carrying her.

After setting Nia down Donnie and I got some plywood, hammers and nails and started to board up the lab doors. I was surprised he even let me near a hammer, but I guess that was the least of our problems right now.

"Donatello… Michelangelo…"

We stopped hammering and looked around. Nia, still in the same spot we left her, lifted her head and looked up at us.

"Brothers… what happened? Where are Leo and Raph?"

"Nia!" I dropped my hammer and walked over to her. "You went crazy, dudette! So did Raph and Leo, they ran off with the egg."

"Oh no," Nia said lowly. "I'm so sorry. But don't worry, I feel much better now. Here, untie me, Mikey. Undo these chains and we can go find the others together."

I smiled as I reached forward for the chains. Suddenly, Donnie put a hand on my chest and pushed me back.

"No!" he shouted. "Don't do it, Mikey. Look at her eyes."

Before I could do anything, Nia growled and suddenly leapt towards up. We moved out of the way and Nia stood up, struggling against the chains.

"There's no point in resisting anymore!" Nia shouted, and a deep, dark, demented voice. "The egg will burst any second, and the hatchling will feed on us all…!"

Nia turned and suddenly ran at Donnie, who raised his hand and slapped Nia. She stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"I'm gonna feel bad about that later," said Donnie.

He walked over to his desk and picked something up. He came back holding a large syringe in his hands.

"Sorry to burst your possessed bubble, Nia," said Donnie, kneeling down in front of her. "We may not have the egg, but a sample of your blood should help me create a cure."

Donnie grabbed Nia's arm, raised the needle to it, and stuck it in. I walked around him as I watched him draw enough blood until the syringe was full. As I looked at the back of his head I noticed something on his neck, something dark and purple, with strange marks…

I gasped.

"Bite!" I shouted. "You've been bitten, you've been bitten!"

Donnie whipped his head around to stare down at me, then looked down at his bite mark. He stared down at it, his expression unreadable.

"I must've been bitten during the fight," he said breathlessly. "Now… I'm infected too…"

* * *

Dude, this was bad. Like, way beyond bad, man! Donnie was the only one smart enough to find a possible cure, now he's infected too! What am I supposed to do?

Donnie had been working for the past 10 minutes at supersonic speed, doing everything he could before he turned. Sweat was running down his face, his hands flew across the table as he worked, and he let out noises of nervousness and despair.

"I'm not gonna make it," he said hopelessly, still working. "I'm not gonna make it!"

"Don't stress, dude, you're almost done," I told him seriously.

"Mikey, yah gotta help me," Donnie said as he put a drop of blue liquid into a small container. "If I turn, you're gonna have to knock me out so you can finish the antibody yourself."

I stared at him. Me make the antidote? I can't do that, I'm no braniac like Donnie. I'll screw it up!

"But, Donnie-"

"Just promise me!" Donnie yelled. "It's up to you."

"Okay, okay, so what do I do?" I asked, running around the table to stand next to him. "I'm not exactly the most science-y type of guy, if you didn't know."

"First," Donnie pointed at the container, then at a large machine. "The hybridoma culture has to incubate for 10 minutes…"

_Microwave the container. Got it._

"And then it has to spin in the centrifuge for another 5…"

_Put antidote in spinny thingy, good. What next?_

Suddenly, Donnie let out a loud, painful groan, grabbing his head.

"Ah! There's not enough time!" he cried. "I'm not… I'm not feeling so well…"

Donnie stumbled back, grabbing his head with both of his hands. His groans slowly started to turn into growls, and I gulped. I pulled out a set of nunchucks and walked up to him. I didn't want to do it, but I hand to. Whimpering, I turned my head away as I raised my chucks and brought them down towards Donnie's head. Problem was, Donnie stopped me by grabbing them. I opened my eyes and looked down. Donnie was looking up at me, his eyes completely black. He suddenly yank my arm forward, raised his head, and leaned down as he bit my arm.

"AH!"

I snatched my arm back and quickly smacked Donnie on the head with my chucks. He fell back onto the floor, completely knocked out. I whipped around and looked down at my arm, staring down at the purple bite mark.

"Oh no!" I yelled. "I'm doomed! How am I gonna do this?!" I shook my head. "Gotta remember what Donnie said, gotta remember… Ugh, feel… kinda… ohh…"

My head was spinning faster than me on my skateboard. My knees gave up on me and I fell to the floor on my shell. There was suddenly darkness, and everything went black.

* * *

I groaned as I slowly pushed myself up off of the ground. The first thing I thought when I got up was, _Did it work? Am I okay?_

I looked around and saw that both Nia and Donnie were both gone. They might be with the others guarding the egg. I quickly grabbed the syringe with the green liquid and slowly made my way towards the door. I snuck up to it and leaned my head to peek out.

Nia, Raph, Donnie and Leo were all in the living room, standing in a circle inside the pit. I leaned my head up a bit and saw that the egg was on the floor in the middle of their circle. Gripping the syringe behind me, I took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the lab. The second I walked out all four of them turned their heads towards me.

"Michelangelo," Leo said in an almost happy voice. "You have come to join us."

"Yes," I said roughly. "I finally understand what is so awesome about this egg."

"This is great, brother," said Nia. "Now you'll be able to experience this wonderful moment with all of us."

At that moment there was a loud, gurgling sound, almost like an infant. It took me a second to realize that the sound was coming from the egg.

"Here it comes," said Raph.

The others all looked away from me. Donnie and Nia both dropped their weapons, which clanged and clattered on the floor.

"It is glorious…" Leo breathed.

At the same time, all of them closed their eyes, leaned their heads back, and opened their arms out in surrender. _Now's my chance. _With as much speed as I could muster, I leapt forward and landed by them. One by one, I stuck the syringe into their necks and squeezed some of the antibody into them before quickly leaping back out of the way.

"What have you done?!" Raph snarled at me angrily.

I grinned, blowing at the top of the syringe like a gun.

"Pulled your bacon out the frying pan, bro!"

"Donatello," said Raph. "You said Michelangelo was safe, you said you turned him."

"I did!"

"Did you Donnie? Did you really?" I paused, then admitted, "You did, but… after you bit me, I was totally wiggin'! I almost passed out like 19 times, bro! But, I stayed with it long enough, hurt my brain to remember everything you said,… and boom! I finished the antidote, and used it on you guys! Pretty cool, huh?"

I smiled as I looked at them all. By now, their eyes had faded from solid black to their usual colors, and they had lost their nasty, possessed expressions. They were now staring at me, their jaws opened, and eyes wide.

"You finished the antibody yourself?" Donnie asked, dumbstruck.

"And you were just pretending to be one of us?" asked Leo.

"Yep!" I said brightly.

"But, that's… smart," said Raph.

"Yeah, it is! Just call me Dr. Einstein-einstein."

"I don't think that's a word, Mikey," Nia said groggily, then groaned. "Ohh… my head…"

At the same time the guys were groaning, looking sleepy. That's when I remembered.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," I said. "It may cause drowsiness."

They all stared at me for a second before they all groaned and fell into a big pile on the floor.

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound, and I looked up. I had completely forgotten about the egg. There were several, long black legs poking out of the top, wiggling around. I held my breath as I stared down at the egg, unable to move. The top of the egg snapped open, and a huge wasp head popped out. It looked directly at me and screeched.

Without warning the whole egg suddenly burst open in a mess of egg shells and slim. I blinked, and saw to my surprise that there was more than one baby.

"What?!" I yelled. "4 wasps?!"

The wasps all slowly started pick themselves up, and started to rise into the air. Without hesitating I ran forward and started shaking the others, trying to wake them up.

"Guys! Get up, get up!" I grabbed Leo's shoulders and shook him. "Get up! _Get up…!_"

There was a loud screech, and I gasped as I leapt back in fright. All 4 wasps were now climbing onto the others, preparing to eat them. _Oh shell no, dude!_

I looked around and saw that my skateboard lay just a few feet out of the pit. I ran forward and reached over to grab it. I picked it up and turned around, running back to the others. The wasp that was on top of Nia had its mouth wide open, and was already against her neck. I sprang forward and smacked the wasp with my skateboard, sending it back.

"No!" I screamed, then ran forward and smacked two more off of Leo and Donnie. "Back off! Get away from them!"

I smacked the last wasp away from Raph, and that's when they all got mad. They all screeched loudly at me, and I gasped. They shot straight at me, and I dropped my board and ran out towards the exit of the lair.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

The first thing I heard was screaming. I lifted my head and blinked several times before my vision cleared up. I looked across the room and saw Mikey running out of the lair and into the Shellraiser. My jaw dropped when I saw 4 newborn wasps speeding right after him.

"Oh no…" I breathed. "Guys… guys get up!"

The others all started to sit up, groaning groggily.

"What's happened…?" Raph slurred.

"Mikey's in trouble," I said, forcing myself onto my feet. "The wasps are after him. Come on!"

As soon as I said those words the boys all forgot about their tiredness and sprang to their feet. We all ran towards the exit, stopping by the turnstiles. All 4 wasps were surrounding the Shellraiser. Two of them were trying to squeeze through the doors, one was crawling on the roof, and another was stabbing holes in the side with its stinger.

"Hey wasps!" Raph yelled, taking his sais out. "Come and get it!"

The wasps stopped what they were doing and turned towards us. They growled at us before getting off the Shellraiser and zooming towards us. I reached down and snatched out my tessen before one of them came at me, shoving its stinger at me. I ducked to avoid it and swung my tessen up at it. The wasp zoomed out of the way and charged back to me. The wasp shoved its stinger at me, and I dodged and blocked it with my tessen. But then it did it again, and this time it knocked the fan right out of my hands.

I backflipped out of the way and stepped back. I hit against something, and turned to see that I was back to back with the others, who were backing away from the other wasps, too.

"Looks like we're gonna be wasp food after all," said Leo.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a second later one of the wasps hovering in front of us exploded, spewing weird, brownish goo. But wasps did explode on their own, did they?

I turned my head into the direction where the bang had come from, and saw that the cannon on the Shellraiser was pointed in our direction. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ 3 more loud sounds echoed throughout the lair, and 3 large garbage balls shot out, and hit the remaining wasps. The bugs practically burst on impact, their guts flying everywhere… including right on us.

"Ew…" I groaned, looking down at my slim-covered self.

The doors of the Shellraiser dinged as they slid open, and out popped Mikey, a wide grin on his face.

"Saved your lives again, dudes!" he said cheerfully. "I am on a roll today!"

* * *

"Here's the buckets," I said, walking through the turnstiles.

I set the buckets on the ground. Leo and Raph both put their mops inside, soaking them up. They then started to mop up all the remaining bug ooze on the floor.

"I can't believe Mikey actually came through," said Raph.

"I can't believe he fired the Shellraiser canon inside the lair," Leo said seriously.

"I told you, you should let me shoot it more often," said Mikey. He ate his last bite of his pizza slice, let out a huge burp, then reached his hand out. "Pizza me."

Donnie, who was currently patching up the holes in the Shellraiser, turned off his blow torch and lifted his helmet. He looked at Mikey's hand, then glared up at him.

"No, I'm not gonna pizza you," he said irritably.

Mikey shrugged. "I guess you're right. It's not like I did something incredibly brave and saved your life."

"You did save our lives," I said, walking up to him, hands in my pockets. "You really came through for us, bro. Thanks."

Mikey smiled. "No problemo, sis."

I grinned. Then, I noticed something on the corner of Mikey's mouth. It looked like blue and yellow sprinkles.

"Hey… that's not the chocolate pepperoni pizza you ordered, is it?"

Mikey's eyes widened as he gasped at me.

"No!"

But a second later he burbed again, and several more sprinkles came out. Mikey gasped and covered his mouth, as though trying to hide his mistake.

"Mikey!" I snapped. "You know that's my favorite! Why did you eat it all?"

"It wasn't just me!" he defended. "The guys all had a piece, too! Besides, I only got it so you would chase me."

"Well, guess what? You got your wish!"

Mikey yelped and sprinted past me. I whipped around and immediately ran after him, passing by a gaping Leo and a laughing Raph.

"No!" Mikey screamed. "_I'm a_ _hero_…!"

"You're a hero who owes me a pizza!"


	31. Operaton: Break Out

**Hey guys! Listen, I'm sorry it's been a while. College has been gettin' kinda crazy, and hard as far as homework and stuff goes. It's taken me a while to even have time to think about writing. But, it's okay, because I've got the next chapter right here for yah.**

**Now, I know a lot of you are wanting me to update on my other stuff, and I swear to God I will! I just can't get this story out of my head. Also, if you'll look at the dates, I've been at this story for over a year now. Can you believe it? So, I'm gonna finish the last two episodes on this, and during a 2 to 3 week break i'm gonna update on other stuff.**

**Get it? Got? Good! Okay, onto the chapter now...**

* * *

Ch. 26  
Operation: Break Out

Training today was simple and easy. This was good, considering things haven't been simple or easy lately. It was nice to just have a normal day. Well, as normal as it can get with 4 mutant turtles.

But there were several other reasons I was happy about today's training session. Today, it was a simple one-on-one sparring session. While Leo sparred with Mikey, and Donnie sparred with Raph, I would spar with April, meaning I didn't have to play fifth wheel. Don't get me wrong, I don't really care about being an extra, but it was still a nice change. And April is getting so good. She didn't actually get to hit me or even knock me off my feet (she's not _that _good), but she's getting so much better, and she's even better with her tessen than she was before. She still loves the little touch up I did on her fan too, which makes me happy.

Another awesome thing about today's training is that we had a bigger audience than usual. See, today I made plans for Angus and Vanessa to come over to hang out after practice. But, this morning, Angus called and asked if he and Vanessa could come early and watch us practice. I don't know why, but I was excited. It would be nice for them to see what we can do without our lives being threatened. I asked Sensei if it was okay for them to watch, and when he said yes, I immediately called both of them and told them to come over.

Practice is nearly over now. April and I were the first to spar; Sensei wanted to see how well she was doing first before moving onto the boys. She laid some pretty impressive moves, but I was still able to knock her off of her feet and claim victory. All in good sport, obviously. Leo and Mikey were next, Mikey coming out on top by being able to dodge all of Leo's hits and landing a few of his own. Angus had laughed his head off at how irritated Leo got at his brother, and Vanessa watched in amazement as Mikey defeated our leader.

"Yame!"

Mikey leapt away from Leo, putting his nunchucks back into his belt.

"Michelangelo for the win!" he cheered. "Yeah, dude! Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," he bowed, then I saw him wink in our direction. "_Especially_ the ladies."

From next to me I heard Vanessa let out a noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a giggle.

"That was subtle," April muttered to me.

"Since when is Mikey ever subtle?" I whispered.

"Good point."

"Alright, Mikey, beat it," said Raph as he and Donnie stood up.

Leo and Mikey both walked off to sit next to us as Raph and Donnie walked into the middle of the dojo. They both took several steps from each other before taking out their weapons.

"Don't worry, Donnie," said Raph, revealing that smirk he always saved for when he was feeling particularly confident. "I'm in a good mood today, I'll go easy on yah."

"Don't do me any favors, Raph."

Donnie then glanced away from Raph and looked over in our direction. I had a feeling I knew what- or rather, who- he was looking at. Sure enough, as I turned my head I saw April looking back at Donnie, a small smile on her face. Donnie grinned, then looked back up at Raph.

"Um… In fact, maybe… you'll be the one… who gets gone easy on… by me! So… yeah!"

"Worst smack talk ever," Mikey whispered, and Vanessa and I both nodded.

I made an effort to remain perfectly still for Donnie's sake, but I couldn't help but mentally facepalm myself. I mean, I'm not a grade A student when it comes to comebacks, but I'm sure I could give Donnie better pointers than that. I'm a pretty sarcastic chick when I want to be, and that tends to be beneficial with smack talk. That's based on experience, of course.

"Hajime!"

Raph let out a throaty yell as he lunged at Donnie, who charged forward. He swung his staff our, but Raph ducked and avoided it. He quickly spun around and made to strike at Donnie's back, but Donnie raised his staff and blocked the blows. Then he jumped behind Raph and shoved his staff forward, jabbing Raph in his shell, making him stumble forward. Donnie put the staff between Raph's legs and smacked his knees, making them give out. Then, he swung the staff towards Raph's legs and knocked the cocky turtle off of his feet and right onto his shell.

"Hey, I got 'im!" Donnie shouted with delight. "April, did yah see?"

Curiously, I glanced over at April, and saw that she was giving Donnie a larger smile than before.

It happened in an instant. One second, Raph was on his shell, and the next he had flipped over and hand kicked Donnie's feet out from under him, making him fall onto his front. Donnie quickly got to his feet, but before he could even get his staff back Raph as on him. The hothead had taken one of his sais and managed to get one of Donnie's wrists caught between the blades. Raph swung Donnie around him a bit before catching the remaining wrist in his other sai, and swinging him in the front, trapping him. _Oh, not this again._

"Say hi to them, Donnie," said Raph, then adopted a high pitch voice as he bent Donnie's wrist, making him wave. "Hi Mikey, Hi Nia!"

I snapped my hand up to my mouth, and it took every amount of strength I have not to laugh. Though I hate to admit it, I like the old 'Donnie Puppet' goof. Raph used to do it every chance he got when we were kids. But, seeing as how April and our newest friends were watching, I wanted to save him some embarrassment. But, it appeared that my efforts were in vain. Not only did a small giggle manage to come out of me, but the others had no problems in letting it out. But, while April had the decency to simply giggle, Vanessa and Angus roared with laughter. Angus was leaning down on his knees, trying to stay up, and Vanessa was on her back, clutching her stomach.

"Donnie!" Mikey cheered, laughing. "Haha, amazing! I didn't even see his lips move! He's like a puppet who can throw his voice… to himself. Wait…"

"It's cool, Mikey," said Vanessa, sitting back up as she finally caught her breath. "A lot of things we don't understand make us laugh."

"Yame!" Sensei called out. "Raphael, that is enough."

Raph looked disappointed as he swung Donnie to the side, releasing his wrists. Donnie fell down on the ground and onto his shell. Then Raph marched over and sat right on his brother's stomach, making said brother lurch.

"Thanks for going easy on me," Raph gloated, still sporting that smirk.

He patted Donnie's chest before standing up. Donnie looked deflated as he laid there on the floor, and I knew it wasn't just because Raph had squeezed the air out of him.

* * *

"So, what did you think of our training?" I asked the other two as we all started to exit the dojo.

"Pretty sweet lookin'," said Angus. "I mean, I saw you in action that night you saved our butts, but seein' yah train is way different."

"It was so cool!" Vanessa said. "Raph using Donnie as a puppet? Priceless! And did you see the way Mikey took down Leo? Man…"

I was only half listening to her swooning as I turned my head slightly. The last two to leave the dojo were Donnie and Raph. Donnie was glaring at Raph and appeared to be marching over to him, looking like he had something to say.

Moving very quickly, I moved away from Vanessa and Angus and slipped past the curtains into the kitchen. I stood by the corner, making sure my feet weren't visible, and waited. Then, a second later, I heard Donnie's voice.

"What the heck was that?" I heard him ask angrily.

"What?" Raph asked in a rather happy tone. "Just havin' fun. You know how much Mikey and Nia love the 'Donnie Puppet'."

Cautiously, I leaned forward and peeked through the curtains. I could see both of them now; Raph was smiling, but Donnie looked angry.

"Dude, April was watching!" Donnie said seriously, pointing out towards the living room.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure she liked it…"

But as Raph turned, he saw the hurt look on Donnie's face and stopped.

"…too," he finished after a second. "Wait… you still think you have a shot with her?"

I blinked. Did Raph think that Donnie suddenly gave up in his pursuit of April? Even if he had, his feelings wouldn't have just gone away overnight, and he'd still be embarrassed by what had happened in training today.

Donnie looked suddenly even more embarrassed. His cheeks flushed pure red as he glanced away from his brother, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Well… I mean, I…"

"Wow! That is so adorable!" Raph said incredulously. "And sad. It's sa-dorable. If you wanna impress April," he jabbed a finger into Donnie's chest. "Better leave me out of it."

With that, Raph turned and marched away, leaving an embarrassed and hurt-looking Donnie behind. Thinking it was stupid to keep myself hidden, I pulled back the curtains enough to reveal myself.

"Nia!" Donnie gasped. "I-I… um, about all that, I… uh…"

I gave my brother a sad smile as he stuttered and attempted to explain himself, as he always did. But, deciding to cut him short, I slowly walked forward and wrapped my arms around Donnie, pulling him in for a hug. Donnie was still for only a second before hugging me back.

"It's okay, Donnie," I said as I leaned back, holding his shoulders. "You have no reason to be embarrassed. And you know what? Forget what Raph said. I don't think you're stupid for not giving up."

Donnie's face was still red, but it was less so than before. He simply smiled and nodded. I reached up and patted his cheek before turning and walking into the living room.

The others were already busy doing their own things. Raph was sitting on the couch with Angus, the two apparently talking more about the training. Leo, Mikey and Vanessa were all over by the pinball machine, Leo attempting to beat his own high score again. And April was sitting on the other end of the couch, messing around on her laptop.

At that moment there was a strange sound, like electronic music. And it appeared to be coming from April's computer.

"Not bad!" said Mikey, as he, Vanessa and Leo walked over to her. "Needs more drums!"

"What kind of music is that, April?" I asked curiously, dropping down next to her.

"It's… not music," she said quietly.

As soon as she spoke the music stopped, and the icon for it dropped down.

"What was that?" asked Leo.

April shook her head. "I don't know. Some random email I got. It just… started playing on its own."

"Sounds like some kind of telemetric sine wave sub carrier," Donnie said thoughtfully.

2 seconds of pure silence followed this statement as we all stared at Donnie.

"Nerdy turtle say what?" Vanessa asked, her head tilted comically too far to the side.

"Uh, dumb that down a notch?" Leo suggested, looking just as clueless.

"It's an interference modulation used to encrypt covert transmi-"

Donnie's rambling was cut short as Mikey lifted his finger and pressed it to Donnie's mouth, silencing him.

"Not enough notches," he said, shaking his head.

Donnie glared at Mikey, slapping his hand away before saying, in an irritated tone, "A secret message!"

"Er, Donnie?" said Angus. "No offense man, but, not all of us are major science folk, 'kay? You're gonna have to always dumb things down a pinch."

"Who would be sending me a secret message?" April asked, staring at her laptop.

"Well," Donnie spoke up, "If you want, I could take it and try to decode it. I could figure out what the message says and who sent it."

"That's great!"

April closed up her laptop and lifted it up to Donnie, who walked over and took it. He turned from all of us and headed towards his lab.

"Well, that's one issue out of the way," Vanessa said, sitting down next to me.

Mikey jumped up and landed right next to her, and Leo walked over and sat next to Angus and Raph.

"Hey Angus, how's your mom doing?" I asked. "How's the baby?"

"Oh, she's fine," he said. "Baby's good, too. Doctors say it seems to be perfectly healthy so far. I can see why. It won't stop kicking my mom."

"Do your parents know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" asked Leo.

"No, they don't know yet," said Angus. "They got the results though."

"When?!" asked Mikey urgently.

"Last month."

"So, how come they don't know?" asked April. "Did they not look at them yet?"

"Nope. They're wanting to do a gender reveal party, yah know, with a cake and all."

"What's that?" asked Raph.

"Oh, that's right, you wouldn't know. Well, some couples, when they're having a baby, like to do this cake reveal thing. They don't look at the results, and they take them to a bakery, and they make a special cake. The frosting on the outside will be something none gender specific, like green or yellow. But, the inside will be colored depending on the gender. If it's a girl, the inside will be pink, but if it's a boy, it'll be blue. Yah get it?"

"That's so cool!" I said enthusiastically. "Is that what your parents are doing?"

"Yep," Angus nodded. "Got everything set up and planned. The party's set for this Friday, day after tomorrow."

"That's awesome, bro!" said Mikey. "What do you hope it's gonna be?"

"Oh, I dunno," he shrugged. "I mean, in the end it doesn't matter which I get, right? I'm gonna love it no matter what."

Angus hung his head slightly, his cheeks going pink. I smiled. The guys and April might know about Angus' future sibling, but only Vanessa and I knew that what Angus wanted more than anything was cute, little sister.

* * *

Last night ended with all of us gordging down on the rest of our pizza and falling asleep in the pit. Well, most of us. Donnie was still in his lab working on decoding that secret message by the time we all fell asleep. He hadn't even come out to eat after going into his lab. He must have really been working on that message.

I felt my back pop as I stretched it out, yawning loudly. Moving my bangs out of my face and turned around to see that I had been laying on the floor, my head resting on the beanbag chair that Raph was currently sleeping on. I looked around me and saw that the others were still asleep too. Mikey was laying on his plastron on the couch, an empty popcorn bag stuffed on his head like a hat, and Vanessa laying against the couch beside him, her head inches from his. I smirked when I saw this. Leo was laying on a cushion in front of the TV, his mouth hanging open and drool dripping down. Angus was laying on his back on the couch, his red ballcap pulled down so that it covered his face as he slept.

At that moment I felt something tugging on my shoe lace, and I looked down to see Spike pulling on the lace with his mouth. I giggled, reaching over and tugging the lace from his mouth before picking him up and placing him in my lap.

"Morning buddy," I said sweetly, petting his head.

He closed his eyes, looking blissful as I pet his scaly head. I petted him for a few moments before setting him down on the ground. He smiled up at me before slowly crawling away, nibbling at a few pieces of popcorn on the ground.

I looked around and saw 3 empty pizza boxes, and several bags of popcorn, two of which were still half full. I grinned slyly as I reached over and grabbed one of the half full bags. I reached inside and pulled out a small handful of popcorn. I turned my head, raised my hand, and threw the pieces right at Vanessa. They hit her in her face one at a time, and she shook her head. A second later she opened her eyes and slowly raised her head to stare groggily at me.

"Where's the pigeons?" she asked airily, staring around. "The Peeper family dropped their popcorn."

I giggled. "You were just dreaming, Vanessa."

"Oh…"

Vanessa sat up off the couch and yawned loudly as I finally stood up, brushing myself off. How I was able to sleep comfortably with my elbow and knee pads on, I'll never know. I then walked over to Angus, bent over him so that he was hidden in shadow, and quickly flipped his hat up.

"Angus."

Angus grumbled, squinting his eyes before they blinked open. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw me, then quickly relaxed as he groaned.

"Aw, did I scare you?" I asked, smirking.

"Lil' bit," he grumbled, rubbing his face.

I grinned as I straightened up and put my hands in my hoodie pockets.

"So," I said. "Seeing as how you two decided to crash here, yah might wanna call your folks and let them know you're still alive."

Angus' eyes widened. "Ah, damn!"

"Nah, it's cool," Vanessa said, and then yawned again. "Angus was supposed to spend the night at my place anyway, and I told my mom that we might end up passing out here and not to worry. It's all good."

From behind me I heard a deep, low yawn. I turned around and saw Leo now sitting up, stretching his arms out.

"Look who's awake," I said.

Then, I heard loud shuffling and a voice mumble, and I turned to see Mikey starting to wake up, the popcorn bag still stuffed onto his head.

"Morning, Sunshine," Vanessa said cheerfully, and I giggled.

Mikey peeked out of the bag, grinned and mumbled a low "good morning," as he rubbed his eyes. I smiled as I turned back to Leo, who was looking around the room, looking confused.

"Anyone seen Donnie?" he asked.

At this I looked around. I hadn't noticed that Donnie wasn't in the pit with us. Though, I guess he would just come and fall asleep in here like the rest of us did.

"Maybe he's in his bed?" I suggested.

"I'll go check," Angus said, straightening his cap as he stepped out of the pit.

"Second door on the right," I told him.

He nodded and walked down the hall where our bedrooms were. From beside me, I heard Raph yawn as he finally woke up, rubbing his eyes.

"Are we sure we haven't seen Donnie?" Vanessa asked.

"He was still in his lab when we fell asleep," said Mikey as he took the popcorn bag off of his head. Then he gasped. "Wait! Do dreams count? 'Cause last night, I dreamt that Donnie and I were rodeo detectives, and there wa-"

"Can it, Mikey, I'm serious," said Leo.

Mikey shrugged. "Okay, but you'll never know who stole the Buckaroo Diamond!"

"You through?" asked Raph, who had picked up the wandering Spike and was feeding him a piece of popcorn.

"Yeah…" Mikey paused for a moment, then… "It was the clown!"

"Donnie?" Leo called out, but there was no answer.

"Guys," Angus called, running out of the hall. "Donnie ain't in his room."

I frowned. It would make sense that Donnie wouldn't be asleep out here with the rest of us, but why wouldn't he be in his bed. Aw geez, he didn't fall asleep in the lab again, did he?

"Maybe he's in his lab," I said.

With that, we all proceeded to leave the living room and go into Donnie's lab. Even though I hated it when Donnie fell asleep in there, I was hoping that we would find him inside. Instead, all we found was an empty lab.

"Donnie, you in here, dude?" Vanessa asked loudly as we all walked around.

I noticed Mikey walking straight towards Donnie's desk and looked at him. He stopped, then reached out and opened what was clearly April's laptop.

"Guys, I think I know where Donnie went," he said.

At once, we all ran over to the desk and stood behind Mikey. On screen was the same page April had been one, and the little icon that held the secret message.

"Oh, there," Raph said bluntly.

"That's the secret message," said Leo. "Obviously, he must've followed it."

"_After_ he figured out what it was," Raph added.

"But he didn't write it down or anything," said Vanessa, who was looking at all the papers on the lab desk. "Not even a little sticky note or something."

"How're we suppose to find 'im?" asked Angus.

"What would Donnie do, what would Donnie do?" Mikey asked out loud.

Suddenly, Raph reached over and picked up the laptop.

"Gimme that thing!" he shouted, growling as he started shaking it in his hands.

"Or," Leo grabbed Raph's arms to stop him. "What would Donnie do if he was doing and impersonation of Raph?"

Leo reached over and quickly snatched the laptop out of his brother's hands before the hothead could cause any damage. Raph folded his arms and turned away, obviously pouting. Before I could comment, the secret message suddenly started stuttering, and a voice issued from it.

"_April, it's dad," _the voice of April's father made us all freeze. _"I pray you get this message. I've been moved to a secret Kraang facility. If you can, send help…"_

"Dad?"

I whipped my head around. There, standing in the doorway, was April. She was staring at us, a look of fear in her eyes.

* * *

**Donnie's P.O.V.**

_Sa-dorable… Humph! I'll show him!_

I landed on top of a building's water tower before finally coming to a stop. I pulled my phone out and looked down at the map that I had taken a picture of from April's computer. The tracker in my phone told me that I was right on top of the place. I looked down, but saw only a small building with graffiti on it.

"Huh… Doesn't seem very Kraan-y."

Nevertheless, I put my phone back into my belt before leaping off the tower. I landed on the fire escape, swung to the ladder, and forced it down until it dropped as far as it could go. Then I leapt off and quickly when around the nearby jewelry store and went passed the buildings' stone outer walls. I had to be careful. It may be very early in the morning, but the sun was getting higher and higher, and no doubt there would be come humans up and about by now.

I quickly walked over to the small garage door and kneeled down the open it. But then I saw that it had a large metal lock down on it. I reached into the little pouch on my belt and pulled out a small pick. I put the pick into the lock, turned it a couple of times, and then the lock clicked as it snapped open. I grinned, putting the pick back into my belt.

I grabbed the hinges of the door and swung it up. I withdrew my Bo staff before ducking my head as I walked underneath the door. I looked around as I softly closed the door back up.

The place appeared to be some type of mechanic shop, with cars held up in rows upon rows of metal shelves. As I walked deeper into the room I heard a loud clatter and whipped around. There was nothing there. Gripping my staff tightly, I slowly walked forward, looking around the area.

"It is one of the ones called 'the turtles'." A robotic voice said behind me.

I gasped and whipped around. There, standing behind me, was a Kraang droid. It aimed its laser gun at me and started to fire, but I quickly dodged and leapt forward. I swung my staff and smacked the weapon away from, then hit the droid, then sent him flying back and landing on the ground.

I backed away, then noticed a control panel next to me. I smashed it with my hand, and from above a huge car came crashing down onto the droid, squishing the bot and the alien inside it.

"Looks like you could use a tune up, huh?" I said, smirking. "Yeah. Right? Am I right? Who's the hero now?"

Suddenly, from beside me, I saw a flash of pink, and several more lasers coming at me. I gasped and ducked all of them, even tucking my head into my shell for a moment to avoid one that was coming for my head.

"Ho-ly! Cow!"

I untucked my head with a loud pop, and looked around. There were several more droids now, and they were all firing at me.

"No response necessary," I said in a high-pitched voice.

I quickly turned and ran forward, jumping over a car and landing behind it. The droids continued to fire at me as I remained ducked behind the car. Carefully, I slowly peeked my head up and looked to see if there was good cover on the other side. I saw that there was a good spot by one of the metal car shelves. The Kraang fired at my head and I had to duck again.

Taking a deep breath, I leapt up onto the hood of the car and then jumped up, swinging my staff and smacking a nearby droid in the head, knocking him down. I landed on the ground, summersaulted forward, and knocked down another droid before leaping back behind a car that wasn't on a shelf.

For a second, the shooting stopped. This puzzled me, because there was still one more droid left. I walked over and poked my head out, and suddenly the lasers were on me again. As they fired at me, several of them hit another control panel.

Before I could do anything the floor beneath me dropped, and I screamed as I fell down, down, down…

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

As soon as we had figured out where Donnie was going- Mr. O'Neil's message came with a map of his location- we left the lair. April really wanted to come, but we told her no. The Kraang were after her, and if she went into one of their secret labs, she might as well surrender herself to them. She was upset about that, but still agreed. Angus and Vanessa decided to stay there as well; both to give April moral support and to be kept up to date on everything.

It was about 8 am now, and the sun was still rising up in the sky. The others and I were sprinting across building after building, following behind Leo. We have to be careful, so that no one will see us. It's not a big deal if I get spotted, but if the others do, that could lead to trouble.

"Guys, I'm worried," I said. "Donnie's never done anything like this before."

"I know," said Leo. "Why would Donnie try to rescue April's dad by himself."

We all leapt off the building and landed on the edge of the next. Leo and I were halfway across when we noticed that both Mikey and Raph had stopped. We stopped too, turning to look back at them. It was then that I noticed that Raph was glancing around, looking guilty.

"Uhh… Maybe because I told him he has not shot with April?" he said, shrugging sheepishly.

_Oh, now he decides to admit what he did?_

"You what?!" Leo exclaimed, walking back towards him. "Why would you say that?"

"Because he has no shot with April."

"Yeah, but you don't _tell him _that!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, I'm gonna ignore the fact that you basically just agreed with him and focus on the problem," I turned onto Raph, saying what I should've said yesterday. "Raph, you shouldn't have said that to Donnie. You had no right to put him down like that."

"Put him down?" Raph asked incredulously. "Please! One of us had to get it through his head that no matter what he does, it isn't gonna happen."

"And why shouldn't it happen?"

"Because- We… Well, look at us!" Raph snapped. "We're turtles, Nia! Mutants! There's no way in shell a girl like April's gonna go for someone like Don-"

"Oh my God, would you stop using that as the only reason?" I yelled. "April doesn't think of you differently just because you're mutants, and I know I sure as hell don't! Hell, if I had a crush on any of you guys, I wouldn't let the fact that you're mutants get in the way of it!"

I glared at Raph in silence after I said my piece, and he just stared back at me. Not in an angry or confused way, but as if he were seeing me for the first time ever. I glanced over at the other two, and I saw that they also looked stunned by my statement. But they also looked touched, rather than just surprised. I felt my cheeks warm up and I cleared my throat loudly.

"What? I wouldn't," I said firmly.

They all continued to stare at me for a few moments in silence. Then Leo broke it.

"Well, none of that matters now. Right now, we have to get Donnie back before he gets himself hurt."

Leo turned and continued running off the roof. I looked at the other two, and Mikey put a hand on Raph's shoulder.

"The heart's a soft muscle, man," he said soflty. "A soft muscle. _Squish…_"

Normally, this kind of humor would've made me giggle, but under the situation I kept it in. Mikey removed his hand from Raph and spun around, following Leo. I looked back at Raph, and saw that he was still giving me that unusual stare. For some reason it made me nervous.

"Um, we should get going," I said.

Raph blinked, and whatever spell he had been under was broken. He nodded. We both turned and went to follow our brothers.

It took us 20 minutes to get to the place our trackers were leading us. It appeared to be just a simple mechanic shop; not at all Kraang-y, but looks can be deceiving. Being careful, we all crawled down the building we stood on and snuck towards the mechanic shop. There was only one, small door on the front, and we headed towards it.

"You sure this is the right place?" Raph asked.

Leo didn't say anything. Instead, he kneeled down in front of the door and picked something up. It was a large, sliver lock.

"Either Donnie's here, or the garage mechanic stole his lock pick," said Leo.

"So the mechanic could break into his own place?" Mikey asked skeptically. "Come on, Leo. Think this stuff through, dude. Let's move!"

Leo stood up and turned, glaring down at his little brother. Mikey faltered under his brother's gaze, laughing nervously.

"Hehe, uh… you knew that."

"Hm."

"Alright… you say it."

"Let's move!"

Leo lifted the door up and walked inside. Mikey cheered happily, obviously to break the nervous tension, but this failed due to Raph walking up and smacking the back of his head before going inside himself. Mikey glared at his brother, rubbing the back of his head.

"Punk."

"He is, isn't he?" I asked. "C'mon Mikey, let's go."

I easily put the door down as we all walked inside the shop. Shelves upon shelves of cars filled up most of the area. As I walked around a car that was sitting in the center of the room, I looked down to see, surprisingly, a Kraang droid crushed underneath it.

"Pretty sure Donnie took this guy out," said Raph.

"How can you tell?" asked Leo.

"He looks bored to death."

I rolled my eyes. Suddenly, there was the sound of a car engine rumbling to life.

"Hey guys!" Mikey called out, and we turned to see him inside a car high on a shelf. "Check out my ride. Whooo!"

The engine roared and the lights flashed. I had a split second to react, and leapt out to the side as the car suddenly lurched forward, ramming head first into the ground before slamming down. I got up on my feet as the dust cleared, and was relieved to see that the others, including Mikey, were unharmed.

As I turned more I saw that the end of the car had slammed into a small control panel, and saw behind it a large spot where a car used to be had disappeared, revealing a dark passage down. We all walked forward and gazed down the hole. Donnie obviously must've found this and followed it to where the Kranng were.

"Nice, Mikey!" Leo said, grinning.

Mikey, who was still in the car, smiled. "Oh yeah, I-"

"Do not say 'I meant to do that,'" said Raph.

Mikey frowned, looking embarrassed.

"Let's move," said Leo.

* * *

Okay, now this place is starting to look more Kraang-y. We all creeped along the steal/stone wall as we reached the corner, looking around before running forward down a short hall. At the end was a tall, steel door, and a dissembled Kraang droid lying beside it.

"He must've gone through this door," said Raph.

He marched forward, reached up, and started to pull at the door, trying to force it open. But, no matter how hard, no matter at which angle, no matter badly he wanted it to, Raphael could not get the door open. Finally, Raph got so worked up that he sprang back, whipped out his sai, and was about to start stabbing when Leo grabbed is wrist and stopped him.

"Again, what would Donnie have done?" he asked firmly.

I folded my arms and put a finger on my chin, thinking. Donnie would've known what to do, and he never just rushes to smash, hit or destroy whatever doesn't work. So if we can't opened this door by force, what could we do? What did Donnie do?

My eyes wandered around as they fell upon the droid on the ground. I gasped as I remembered.

"Guys! The droid!" I said. "Remember at TCRI? The elevator? There was a retinal scanner, it needed a droid to scan itself before it would even move."

I walked around the others and over to the door. There, in the center, was a black, rectangular sheet of glass that looked just like the scanner at TCRI.

"Guys, pick up the droid."

They did as I asked and they all grabbed the body and picked it up, bringing it over. I grabbed the head and pulled it closer and pressed it against the glass. I was right. There was a bright red light as it scanned the face, and a second later the door beeped, opening up completely.

"We're in!" I said happily.

The boys cheered as they dropped the droid. A second later there was a loud, ringing sound echoing throughout the halls. It was the alarm.

"Nia did it!" Mikey shouted, pointing at me.

I whipped my head around and glared at him. As I did, I saw several Kraang droids running towards us from the other side of the hall. I gasped before reaching down and taking out my kamas. The boys noticed this and turned around as well.

"We've got company!" said Leo as he and the other two took their weapons out as well.

You know, coming here to get Donnie back was beginning to be a lot more trouble that one would think is worth it. Having first find the place is one thing, having to get through it is another, but to have to deal is this many Kraang is a whole new level. It took us a while to get rid of the Kraang who had tried to sneak up on us, and even longer to take care of the ones who were past the door we had managed to open. But, it didn't matter to me. No matter what we face, nothing is gonna stop me from finding my brother, and hopefully finding April's dad.

As we walked down the hallway we looked into all of the cell doors, all of which were opened. Perhaps Donnie opened them when he found Mr. O'Neil? I was looking inside another cell when I heard it. A loud, banging sound, coupled with the sharp snarling of some kind of animal. I wasn't the only one who heard it either.

"I don't like the sound of that," said Leo.

"Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away," said Mikey. A second later we heard the snarling again, and this time it was louder. "Someone's not ignoring it!"

Before I could respond something very big swung down in front of us, hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a gigantic lizard. It would've been taller than even Donnie if it were standing up. Its scaly skin was a sickening black and orange, and it was wearing some strange, white armor around his torso and limbs. The creature snarled at us before aiming what looked like a gun in our faces. It fired at us and the little orange bullets shot forward.

"Move!" Raph shouted.

The bullets came right at us and at the last second we all dropped to the ground, flat on our bellies. The bullets shot past us and hit a closed cell door. There was a loud boom as the door exploded, and dirt and dust filled the hall. We all coughed as we slowly got back to our feet. I waved my hand around, trying to push the dirt away. When the air cleared I looked to see a gaping hole where the cell door used to be. As I gazed at it I looked inside to see two figures. One was a bald, red-bearded man, and the other was…

"Donnie!" I shouted.

I ran forward, leaping over Leo, who was still crouched on the ground. I threw my arms around Donnie and pulled him into a breathtaking hug. Donnie didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around me and instantly hugged me back.

"Mr. O'Neil!" Leo said, shocked, addressing April's father.

"Big, beady eyed, lizard-y thing with weapons!" Mikey screamed.

I pulled away from Donnie to whip my head around. The large creature who had fired at us was standing in the middle of the hall, screeching loudly at us.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?" I yelled.

"Donatello calls it the Newtralizer," Mr. O'Neil answered.

"You named something without me?" Mikey asked Donnie, sounding heartbroken.

But as Donnie looked down at him the Newtralizer started firing at us again, and we all shouted as we turned and ran the other way. We ran down the hallway and took a few turns, all of us following after Donnie. He lead us to the end of one hall, where another set of doors were. The doors opened as we reached them, and we all ran inside. The doors closed tightly behind us, separating us from the Newtralizer.

I took a couple breathes as I looked to make sure the others were here and alright. That's when I noticed Mikey was glaring up at Donnie with unnatural fury, and Donnie was giving him a clueless gaze.

"You named something without me?!" Mikey asked angrily.

Donnie rolled his eyes irritably. From the other side of the door there came a loud crashing and banging. The Newtralizer was trying to get inside.

"We gotta get outta this prison," said Leo.

"Technically, this is a detention center," Mr. O'Neil started. "The difference being-"

"Not now, Donni- Ohh… Sorry, Mr. O'Neil," Raph said, looking sheepish. Then he looked over at me. "Great. Now there's two of 'em."

"Nothing wrong with a few more smart people, Raph," I told him.

Raph opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as a second door from behind us beeped and slid open. We all turned to see many more Kraang droids, armed and at the ready. They ran inside and instantly started firing. I whipped out my kamas as I ran forward, slicing one upside the head and knocking him out of the way. I ducked under several lasers and sliced through a couple of droids feet, making them fall over.

"Little help!" Mikey shouted.

"How about some big help?"

Donnie put his staff back into his belt as he ran forward and started messing with the Kraang computer.

"Not really the time to check your email!" Leo said irritably as he sliced through several droids.

"Donnie, what're yah doing?" I asked loudly.

"I'm guessing if they had the Newtralizer locked up, it wasn't because he was their friend."

And with a smirk on his face, Donnie slammed his hand down on the computer. The first door opened, and there stood the Newtralizer. He grabbed a Kraang droid that was nearby and threw him across the room, snarling loudly.

"Apparently, he likes trashing Kraang," said Raph.

"Who doesn't?" asked Mikey.

The Newtralizer raised both of his arm and started firing all around the room. I ducked down and ran behind the Kraang computer along with the others. Keeping my head down low enough, I looked out to see every single Kraang droid get shot and fall down onto the ground. A few seconds later, they were all down.

"YEAH!" we all shouted, leaping to our feet.

The Newtralizer glared at us before aiming his large gun onto us.

"NO!" we all shouted again.

The Newtralizer fired, and we all ducked to avoid being blasted. Like with the cell door, the bullets blew up the second door behind us. After seeing we were free we all ran out of the room and into the hallway, screaming like mad.

We followed Donnie, making so many twists and turns that I was afraid that we were lost. But, eventually, another right turn lead us straight to the car lift that had brought us down here in the first place. As soon as we saw it we all got onto the platform.

"We gotta access the control panel," said Donnie, smacking the panel irritably.

"I got it," Raph said, taking out his sai and walking forward.

But just as he was about to strike, Donnie reached up and stopped him.

"Raph, _I _got it,"

Raph smirked. "Oh, really?"

"Really."

Donnie then took the sai from Raph and stabbed the control panel himself. I smiled to myself as the platform suddenly lurched upward, taking us back to the mechanic shop at superfast speed. When it reached the top it stopped suddenly, causing us all to fly off. We all went in different directions. I was thrown forward and landed on something hard. Recognizing the feeling of plastron, I realized it was one of the guys. I sat up and saw that I had landed on top of Leo.

"Sorry, dude," I said, getting up and reaching my hand out to help him.

"No problem," he said, taking my hand and letting me pull him up.

Suddenly, there was a loud screeching and a dark shape shot up the level we just came out of and landed on a car. It was the Newtralizer, and for whatever reason, he looked pissed.

"Let's split up," said Leo. "Donnie, you get Mr. O'Neil out of here."

The Newtralizer raised his hands and threw what looked like silver discs at us. We all leapt out of the way to avoid them. Mikey and I went to one corner of the room, Donnie went to go hid Mr. O'Neil, and Leo and Raph charged the creature head on.

"We gotta help them," I told Mikey.

He nodded. We both ran towards the huge shelves of cars and climbed up one. By the time we reached the top shelve and looked down we saw Raph leap away as the Newtralizer shot at him with his lasers. But, rather than chase after him, the creature turned towards the shelves, and then stomped over there instead. Curiously, I leaned over the edge to see Donnie and Mr. O'Neil hiding behind a car.

"C'mon," I said.

Mikey followed me as I climbed down one set of shelves. I looked down to see the Newtralizer standing on one side of a car, and Donnie and Mr. O'Neil standing on the other. The lizard lunged forward and Donnie cried, "No!" pushing April's father out of the way. The Newtralizer snarled at him, and Donnie threw a smoke bomb in his face. While he and Mr. O'Neil managed to sneak away, I leapt forward and landed right on the lizard's shoulders. Before he could do more than reach up and jumped off and grabbed the corner of a shelf, hanging off of it. The Newtralizer snarled at me, and stuck my touch out at him as I waved my free hand in front of my face. A second later, Mikey jumped down onto his head and leapt up to another shelf. The Newtralizer turned towards him, and he blew a rashberry in his face.

As the lizard was distracting I leapt off and landed on the round. I looked around the room and found Donnie hiding Mr. O'Neil behind another car in the corner.

"Are you two okay?" I asked as I ran over to them.

"We're fine," said Donnie.

There was a loud thud and a few grunts, and I whipped around to see Leo and Raph laying on the ground. The Newtralizer then leapt down in front of them and pointed a gun at them. Where was Mikey? He was supposed to be distracting him. No sooner did I think this before there was the sound of and engine starting up, and suddenly roared.

"Booyakasha!"

I looked up in time to see a car fly off the shelf and land right on top of the Newtralizer before falling over onto its back, landing hard with a loud crash.

"Mikey!" Leo, Raph and I yelled.

We all ran forward towards the driver's side, but I couldn't see anything.

"Mikey, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

Then, all of a sudden, Mikey poked his head out, smiling at us all.

"Don't worry, I wore my seatbelt," he said happily, unbuckling said seatbelt and slipping out of the open window.

Raph and I laughed as we both helped him to his feet.

"C'mon," said Raph, rubbing the top of Mikey's head.

* * *

I'll admit, I've seen more comfortable passengers ride the Shellraiser. Mr. O'Neil was nervous the whole ride home. He kept figgiting around, yelped every time we turned sharp, and kept warning Leo about the speed limit. But, despite it all, we bit our tongues and took it with a grain of salt. He had just been a prisoner to the Kraang after all.

As soon as we parked by the lair entrance Mr. O'Neil was the first to get out. After telling him that his daughter was in the lair waiting for him, he wanted nothing more than to get out and see her. We all followed behind him and walked through the turnstiles. April, Vanessa, Angus and Splinter were all in the living room, obviously waiting for us. April was sitting on the couch, her head hung over, and Vanessa was sitting next to her, an arm around her shoulders. Angus was pacing around in circles inside the pit, looking worried. And Splinter stood over them all, looking calm and patient.

"April?" Mr. O'Neil called out.

April suddenly sat up and whipped around.

"Dad?" she gasped. "Dad! Oh dad, I can't believe it!"

At once, she sprung to her feet and ran towards her father, wrapping her arms around him. Mr. O'Neil hugged his daughter, looking relieved to see her.

"You guys are okay!" Vanessa said happily, standing up and walking towards us. "We were starting to get worried."

"Relax, Ness, it's all good," Mikey said smoothly.

"Did yah get into too much trouble?" Angus asked.

I glanced at the others, who all gave me similar looks. I bit my lip as I turned to look at Angus.

"The important thing is, we came home alive," I said.

"I'll say," April turned towards all of us. "You guys saved my dad! Thank you so much!"

"No problem, April," I said, smiling.

"Yeah. The guy you should really be thanking is Donnie," Raph said, pulling Donnie in and patting his chest.

I slowly turned my head to stare at Raph. Was he trying to make Donnie look impressive for April? Donnie stared down at Raph, looking flustered.

"Well, I-"

"Seriously, you should've seen him!" Raph continued enthusiastically. "He was _ho-waah! Sheeka! Oh-ha! Blew-blech!_"

"Raph," Donnie cut in, laughing slightly. "I-I-I think that's a little-"

"We kept saying, 'careful Donnie, it's too dangerous!," Raph piped up once more. "And Donnie was like, 'Danger? Ha! Nothing will stop me-!"

"Thank you! Thank you, Raphael!" Donnie said loudly as he clapped a hand over Raph's mouth. He quickly released him and looked over at April. "Heheh… Th-those weren't my _exact _words, bu-"

But he was cut off as April walked forward and gave him a soft, long, genuine hung. Donnie completely froze up, his eyes going wide.

"Thank you, Donnie," April said sweetly, releasing him and walking back to her father.

Donnie let out a cute little giggle before he finally fell back onto his shell. We all walked over to stand around him, all of us sporting similar smirks.

"Well, I tried," Raph said.

"Dude, I'd say you succeeded," Mikey said proudly.

Donnie giggled again, raising his hand as he gave us a thumbs up. I snorted and Vanessa giggled. Angus chuckled lowly, shaking his head.

"I'm really glad you guys are okay," said Vanessa. "Unfortunately, we can't stay any longer. My mom wants me home in the next five minutes, so I gotta buzz out."

"And I need to get home, too," said Angus. "The reveal party is tomorrow, and I gotta help my folks with the set up."

"Let's us know how it goes," I told him.

He nodded. After wishes of good luck, and a noticeably sweet goodbye between Mikey and Vanessa, our two friends left the lair.

* * *

After reuniting April with her dad, and the fiasco that we had to go through for it, we just wanted a day to relax. After our afternoon training we all went straight for the living room; we popped out the controllers and started play Super Smash Bros. I was just about to beat Raph when my phone started ringing. I stopped for half a second to take my phone out and answer it.

"Hey, Angus."

"_Hey Nia, y'all busy?"_

"Yeah!"

I gasped as I whipped my head back to the TV. I saw that Raph's character had just beaten mine.

"Oh yeah, I win!" Raph shouted.

"No!" I yelled. I let out an irritated noise as I went back to my call. "This better be good, man. You just made me loose a Smash Bros level to Raph."

Angus chuckled. _"I'll pay yah back, I promise. But, listen, are you guys doing anything right now? Anything important?"_

"Video games are important!" Mikey exclaimed. He had been listening in on my conversation.

I rolled my eyes as I gently pushed his head to the side.

"Nah, we're not really that busy. Why?"

"'Cause we're here, girl!"

I blinked and whipped my head around. Both Angus and Vanessa were standing by the turnstiles, smiling down at us. Vanessa, looking bright as ever, was beaming at us through her small, black curls. Angus, looking noticeably peachy, winked as he placed his phone back into his pocket. He was also carrying a large, plastic box with a lid.

"Dudes!" Mikey squealed, leaping up and running towards our friends, fist bumping with Angus and giving Vanessa a hug.

I grinned at the others as I stood up and walked over to greet them.

"Hey," I said.

"What're you doing here?" asked Leo. "I thought your parents' party was today."

"Just ended an hour ago," said Angus. "Thought we'd come see y'all afterward."

"What's in the box?" Raph asked, pointing at the object in Angus' hands.

Neither of them answered. They just looked over at each other, gave equally excited smiles, and then turned them towards us.

"You'll see," said Vanessa. "C'mon, we'll show you."

They both led us into our own kitchen. Leo and I sat down on one side of the table, Mikey and Vanessa sat on the other, Donnie leaned against the table surface, and Raph sat on the end. Angus stood at the other end of the table, and with a smile on his face, he placed the plastic container on the table.

"So?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Well," Angus started. "Yah know my parents had their reveal party today…"

"Okay…" said Leo.

"And we had more cake than we realized…"

"Yeah…?" Donnie said, the corners of his mouth twitching upward.

"And, we thought," Vanessa piped in. "Since there was enough left over, that- instead of just calling and telling you- we'd just let you see for yourselves."

I felt my mouth dropped. "You mean… that's _the _cake?" I asked, pointing at the container.

Angus nodded. I couldn't believe it. And judging by their looks, the others couldn't believe it either. These two- our best friends- they were wanting us to be a part of a great experience. I mean, telling us over the phone is thrilling enough, but this...

"Really?" asked Raph, his voice noticeably softer than usual.

"Yep," said Angus. "And there's plenty for everybody."

"Wait a sec!" I said quickly as Angus reached for the lid.

I quickly slipped out of my chair and ran to a drawer, taking out a knife. Then I opened a cupboard and pulled out a thick roll of paper towels. I mean, come on. It's cake; who needs plates?

That's when I realized, a little thought had been buzzing in my mind, and I inhaled sharply.

"Oh man… my wish…"

"Whatcha say?" asked Mikey.

I turned around. "Guys… my birthday wish!" I exclaimed. "Back in September- Mutation Day! When I blew out the candle I wished for a real cake," I beamed. "Dudes… we got real cake!"

Mikey gasped, looking starstruck, Raph chuckled as he shook his head, Donnie laughed softly, and Leo grinned at me. I walked over and set the paper towels and the knife on the table. I looked over at Angus, and I could almost feel the others' eyes on him as well.

"Alrighty," he said.

He reached over and grabbed the lid. He gave us a beaming look before he popped the lids handles and lifted it up. Slowly, we all leaned forward to peer inside. The cake was obviously much larger before it had been eaten, and probably originally came in a bigger box. It appeared to have been shaped like a giant oval, and the outside frosting was yellow with green stripes and green around the edges. But, despite the tasty looking outside, it was the color on the inside that drew our attention the most- the color of the inside that truly shocked us all.

The cake was pink.


	32. Showdown: Part 1

**Hey guys, it's me! Look, I know it's been a while since I've updated this story, but I swear it's not my fault. I only have two more weeks left of school and my professors were really piling on the work at the last minute. But, I literally only have one thing to worry about, then exams next week, and then SUMMER BREAK BABY! Which means I should have some time to get part two of his finale done sooner. But... i'm worried about how this one turned out. I worked hard on it, but at the same time, i'm a little worried on how it'll look. I hope you guys like it. Please, please, please leave reviews. it's helps out a lot. I hope you like this. Welp, here's Part 1...**

* * *

Ch. 27  
Showdown: Part 1

_My chest was heaving as I breathed heavily, trying to stay calm and focused just for a moment, but it was no use. My heart was thundering painfully and my nerves were on fire. My palms were sweating as I held my kamas tightly, and sweat was dripping down my face. Slowly, my body still shaking, I leaned over slightly and peeked around the corner down the dark alley. It was empty. Where did Shredder go? Suddenly, there was a loud scream._

"_Nia!"_

_I inhaled sharply. "Mikey…?"_

_Then, several more screams sounded loudly from the other end of the alley._

"_Nia, help!"_

"_Where are you?"_

"_Help us!"_

Leo… Raph… Donnie… _I gasped in horror, and without hesitation I sprang to my feet and sprinted down the alley. My brothers were in trouble, and I had to help them! I ran down the long alley, and as I got closer I saw all four of the boys standing at the end of the alley, underneath an alley light._

"_Guys, I'm coming!" I shouted._

_I got closer and closer, desperate to reach them. But, when I was only a few feet away from them, the alley light burst, and I was plunged in darkness. I skidded to a halt and froze. It was completely dark; I couldn't see anything. Which was surprising, since I had always been able to see well, even in the dark._

"_Guys?" I called out. "Dudes, I can't see. Where are you?"_

_But, they didn't respond. What was going on? Suddenly, the alley light lit up again, this time illuminating the ally in a deep red light. I looked forward and saw that the boys were gone._

"_Wha…?"_

_Then, from behind me, I heard what sounded like metal grinding against brick. I whipped around. It was Shredder. He was marching towards me, the blades of his gauntlet gliding against the brick wall, causing some sparks. I took several steps back, my hands shaking as I gripped my kamas._

_Shredder suddenly lunged forward, blades up. I raised my kamas and blocked his blow, but the force sent me flying backward and my kamas flew out of my hands. I slammed against the brick wall, and my head hit the surface hard. My vision went black for a second, and when I could see again I looked up. Shredder was standing feet away from me, hiding in the shadows. I sat up straight, reaching forward and taking my tessen out._

_Then, Shredder started laughing, a deep dark laugh that sent shivers up my spine. As he walked forward, I say the shine of his armor disappear, and this voice seemed to change, becoming slightly higher and gruffer. I blinked as he walked forward, and finally stepped into the light._

_I was so shocked that I dropped my tessen. I couldn't believe it. The Shredder had transformed into…_

"_Long time no see, little brat…"_

_My heartbeat picked up again, my legs and arms shaking as I stepped back until my back hit the wall._

"_No… S-stay away," I shuddered. "Stay away from me!"_

_He laughed again, and suddenly ran at me, his fist raised, and I was so afraid that I couldn't move. His fist came closer to my face, and-_

I gasped as my eyes snapped open. It was dark, but I could see as usual. My eyes snapped back and forth, and saw that I was back in my bedroom. I took shuddering deep breathes as I sat up, reaching over and turning on my lamp. I looked around, as though expecting to see him standing in front of the door. But there was nobody there.

I turned my head to look at the little clock, and saw that it was 3:42 am. I let out a strangled sound as I lowered my head into my hand. It's been years since I last had a nightmare about my biological dad. Hell, there are sometimes where I forget he existed completely. But, tonight, something was different. But, whatever triggered that nightmare was unknown to me.

I took a deep breath as I sat up, rubbing my hands down my face. My heartrate had slowed down a lot and my breathing was back to normal. However, my nerves were still tingling, and I had a low feeling in my gut. I don't know why, but I got the sinking feeling that… something was going to happen. I didn't know what, and I didn't know when, but I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I sighed. I'm probably just worked up over that damn nightmare. I laied my head back down onto the pillow and pulled my covers back up over me. I curled up into my bed, my mind still buzzing.

* * *

"_And now… the final episode… of 'Space Heroes'!"_

Leo gasped with excitement, his face now dangerously close to the T.V. I giggled. I had agreed to watch the final episode of 'Space Heroes' with Leo today. He knew that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but that I thought it was okay, and I had been watching it with him ever since we were kids. So, I suppose he figured it would make it more special if I watched it with him. Trouble is, Angus and Vanessa ended up getting dragged into it too, seeing as how they decided to stop by today of all days. And it was clear that they, like all of Leo's brothers, found the show to be extremely dull.

_The episode starts off with an image of the space ship, currently taking multiple hits from possibly and enemy ship. The image goes to the inside of the ship, where Captain Ryan and his crew are trying to find a way out of danger._

"_Captain, the Destructionators are on our tail!" cried Cranshaw. "We're… lost."_

"_I've got an idea," said Captain Ryan. "It's crazy, it defies all logic, it's illegal 16 solar systems, and… my mother would most assuredly not approve, but… it just might work."_

_With that said, Captain Ryan reached up and pressed a large red button on his chair arm. There was a second's silence, then the whole ship started to shake and sirens sounded as red lights flashed._

"_Nope!" Captain Ryan said loudly. "Abandon ship!"_

"Huh?" said Leo, thunderstruck.

_All of the crew got up from their seats and marched over to their transporter. Captain Ryan didn't join in with them._

"_Captain, aren't you coming?" Cranshaw asked desperately._

"_A true captain goes down with his ship…"_

"_Sir… it's been a privilege to- Argh!"_

_Captain Ryan reached up and slapped Cranshaw across the face, for what was obviously the last time._

"_Just go…!"_

_With that, the doors closed. Captain Ryan sat back in his seat, gazing around his ship._

"_Well, old girl, it's just you and me…"_

"What a hero…" said Leo, gazing at the screen.

I smiled as I shook my head slightly.

"He really thinks this is hot stuff, huh?" Vanessa whispered from a few spots away from me.

I nodded. "Yeah. He's loved it ever since he was a kid."

"Yeah, but… why?"

"Eh, to each his own," said Angus. "Everyone's got their reasons for likin' something, not our place to question it."

I grinned at Angus before turning my head back to the TV screen. Then, from behind me I heard someone else speak.

"Sup?"

I looked around, and smiled at Raph.

"Hey dude."

Raph walked forward and sat down next to me. "What's going on?"

"We're watching the end of Leo's childhood," I said, motioning to the TV. "If I were you, I'd let him enjoy this without any insults."

"As long as there's no more 'Space Dorks' afterward, I'm good with that."

I chuckled as I turned back to face the TV. Out my prevail vision, it looked like Raph was staring, not at the TV, but at me. Just as I glanced over at him however, his gaze went to the floor as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What's up?" I asked curiously.

Raph didn't say anything for a moment. He glanced up at me, then over at Leo, then at the floor again before letting out a heavy sigh.

"Nia," he started out. "There's, um… there's something I gotta talk to you about."

But before he could say anymore, there was the sound of the TV powering down, and I looked up to see it had turned off. I whipped my head around to see Donnie standing there, holding the remote.

"What are you doing?" Leo snapped at him. "That's the final episode of 'Space Heroes'!"

"I've got something a little more _important_," Donnie said, putting emphasis on the last word.

"Donnie, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Come and see."

We all followed Donnie into his lab. Over on his desk by his computer was a device that looked like a gigantic golf ball, bigger than a watermelon. April had found it deep in the sewers the other day while the guys and I were out saving Donnie and her father. It turned out to be some kind of Kraang communication device. And, apparently, Donnie and April had found and translated something from it.

"April and I have been sifting through all this Kraang chatter," said Donnie, typing away at his computer. "And… well, listen to what we translated."

Donnie typed a little more and the Kraang device lit up. A second later, a Kraang droid's voice issued from it.

"_The final phase of the plan knowns as 'Kraang's Invasion' shall commence in the unit of time that is 6 hours. The Technodrome shall arrive from Dimension X through the portal."_

"Are you sure this is the translated version?" Mikey asked, smirking.

Donnie face palmed. "They said, in 6 hours, something called the Technodrome is coming through that portal. This is the final phase of the Kraang invasion."

"Wait," said Leo. "But, I thought April was the key to the Kraang plot, and they don't have her."

"Maybe they have some sort of plan to get her," I said.

"If that Technodrome comes through that portal… well…" Donnie turned to look at all of us. "It sounds like the end of the world…"

I gaped at him. "Bloody hell…"

"Gosh," muttered Vanessa. "And to think, I've been fussing over that homework packet for Algebra."

"So, what do we do?" asked Raph.

Donnie opened his mouth, but Leo cut him off.

"Guys…"

We all turned to face him. Leo had an unusually serious look on his face, a dramatic change to the look he had before whilst watching his show. He straightened up and looked at us all.

"We've gotta find a way to shut that portal down," he said. "It's up to us."

"To save the world?" Mikey asked.

"Leonardo is right," we heard Sensei speak as he walked towards us. "When you first went up to the surface, I feared you were not ready. But, I have come to realized that you were not only ready to become heroes; it was your destiny. And if the fate of the world must rest in somebody's hands, I am grateful it is yours."

We all smiled up at Sensei as we bowed our heads to him. We all turned and walked around him. I stopped at the door and turned to face Vanessa and Angus.

"C'mon, you two," I said. "You should be getting home with your folks."

They didn't say anything, but followed out the door as well. I was about to follow them when I noticed Sensei talking to Leo.

"Leonardo," he said. "A moment, please."

Leo stopped walking and turned back to Splinter.

"With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission."

"Yes, Sensei."

"No matter what you have to sacrifice… or who."

I stood in the doorway, frozen. Did Sensei really mean…?

Leo didn't move either, but stared up at him. Then, a second later, his expression changed and he nodded. Sensei turned and walked towards the exit, and that's when he saw me. He looked at me for a moment then continued walking forward and stopped in front of me.

"You heard what I said?"

I nodded.

"Then you understand the importance of it."

I nodded again.

"Lavinia, I know what something like this must mean to you," he said gently. "But, you must understand. When severe dangers come into play, sacrifices must be made."

I gulped, and nodded slowly.

"When the time comes, you must allow it. Do you understand?"

I nodded once more.

"Don't worry, Sensei," I said. "It won't come to that. You'll have all your boys back here by dinner. I promise."

"Do not make promises you may not be able to keep, daughter," Sensei warned me.

"I never do, Sensei. And I don't plan to any time soon."

Sensei put a hand on my shoulder before turning and walking away. I stood in the doorway, thinking of all he had said to me.

* * *

**April's P.O.V.**

"Are you sure you guys don't wanna go home?" Nia asked Angus and Vanessa. "You folks might get worried about you, and things might get a little bit crazy soon."

"Absolutely not," said Vanessa. "We can't just go home and pretend that nothing is going on. As long as you guys are out there, we don't want to be sitting at home worrying about what might be happening."

"Nessy's right," said Angus. "Don't worry 'bout us, Nia. We'll be waitin' right here 'til yah get back."

Nia smiled at both of them before walking forward and pulling both of them into a hug. They hugged her back. I grinned at them as I turned to look at the turtles. I walked forward towards them.

"You guys be careful out there," I told them. "Okay?"

"No sweat, April," said Mikey, giving me a thumbs up.

"We'll be back soon," said Donnie. "I promise."

I smiled up at him, and before I could stop myself I marched right up to him and hugged him tightly. I felt him tense up before he hugged me back. I heard Mikey and Raph snicker, but I rolled my eyes and ignored them. I released my hold on Donnie and backed away to stand next to Splinter. Nia finally released her hold on her friends, gave them each a warm smile, then backed away to stand in line with the turtles.

"Gentlemen, Lady," said Leo, and Nia rolled her eyes slightly. "Let's save the world."

The doors to the Shellraiser opened, and they all marched inside. Nia was the last to go in, stopping when she had one foot in the van. She turned to face us, and looked directly at Splinter. I looked up at him, and I saw him give her a confident look as he nodded his head. Nia smiled, lifted two fingers in a playful salute, and then went into the van. The doors shut, the engine powered up, and the lights flashed on as the Shellraiser drove off down the subway tracks until it was out of site.

There was nothing but silence now. I stood there, rubbing my arm awkwardly as silence stretched on. Then, Vanessa sighed.

"I hope they'll be alright," she said. "I hate seeing them going off into this."

"Well, I don't like them going off on their own," Angus said, kicking his feet as he folded his arms, looking irritated. "It ain't right, we should be helpin' them."

"Your desire to help in this battle is brave," said Splinter. "But, it would be foolish and dangerous to send you with them. Neither of you have been trained for normal combat, let alone a fight such as this. It would be far too dangerous for you."

Angus huffed angrily as he turned away. He didn't look pleased with what Splinter had said. Though, what he said did make me think of something.

"Um, Sensei… do you mind if I ask you a question?" I piped up.

"Of course not," said Master Splinter.

I took a deep breath, then stared directly at him as I asked, "Why aren't you going with them?"

Vanessa and Angus both looked at me, then looked up at Splinter, looking curious to know the answer as well. Master Splinter looked down at me with a confused, and slightly stern gaze.

"Why do you ask?"

"Nia and the turtles are out there risking their lives," I said. "Don't you think they could use your help?"

"Yah know, she's got a point, Master Splinter," said Angus. "I mean, they've all faced a bunch of nasty stuff these past months. But, all that seems pretty minor to what they're going out after now."

"What if they don't make it?" asked Vanessa. "What if they need help?"

Master Splinter looked around at all of us. His grip on his walking stick tightened, and his stern look intensified.

"I am their teacher," he said firmly. "_My_ role is to prepare _them_ for the challenges they face."

I shook my head. "But, Sensei, you said yourself that this time the fate of the world is-"

"_Yamare!_"

I flinched as I instantly closed my mouth. Sensei now had an angry look on his face, and he turned his back towards me.

"I do not have to explain myself to children!"

And with that, he walked away, back into the lair. Vanessa and Angus stared after him, looking very offended. I folded my arms as I shook my head.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

"Alright, guys," said Leo. "We're gonna keep it simple. We go to TCRI and use the micro vision Omni disintegrator, which Donnie calculates is powerful enough to destroy the portal with a single shot."

"Good plan. Let's make sure we can make it happen," I said. "Donnie, you sure the disintegrator can finish off that portal."

"Trust me, Nia, it'll do the job."

"Well, then why didn't we use it last time?" Mikey asked in a whining voice.

"Because we didn't have it last time," Donnie stressed, mocking his brother's whining.

Mikey frowned. "You have an answer for everything, don't you, Donnie?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good one, Donnie," said Raph. "Speaking of good one, are you sure this plan will work, Leo?"

Leo was silent for a moment before speaking lowly, "It has to work."

* * *

**Vanessa's P.O.V.**

Man, this totally blows. Nia and the turtles have been gone for over an hour now, and we still haven't heard back from them yet. Splinter keeps telling us to be patient and to relax, but how can we? Angus can barely stay still, let alone relax. April's not much better either. She keeps walking around the living room, giving Splinter dirty looks behind his back. She's seriously pissed at him right now, and I don't blame her. I'm pretty upset at what he said too.

April groaned as she walked over to the pinball game and leaned over it, looking glum. Leaving Angus to his pacing, I stepped out of the pit and walked over to her.

"You hanging in there, girl?"

April turned her head to look at me. "Oh, yeah. I'm good."

I walked forward and leaned my elbow on the surface of the machine, looking at her.

"Look, I know you're still pissed," I said. "We all are. But, there's too much going on for us to be getting mad right now, you know?"

April sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm just… so worried about them, I wanna help them."

"Yeah, me too. But, what can we do? You've only been training for, like, a few months, whereas Nia and the guys have been training for years. And me and Angus aren't even trained," I leaned forward a little. "I'm worried about them too, I'm scared for all of them. Nia, Raph, Leo, Donnie… and Mikey."

I felt my mouth turn up as I thought about the orange-masked turtle. That goofball was definitely one of the best friends I'd ever had. He and Angus were the only guys I felt comfortable truly laughing around. See, when I laugh, I laugh hard, and when that happened I snort and hiccup a lot. Personally, I think I sound like a dying pig, but Mikey thinks I sound adorable. Huh, imagine that.

I looked back up to see April grinning slightly at me.

"You and him get a long really well, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's awesome," I said. "And super funny and cute. And the fact that he loves video games on top of all that is just a bonus."

I was probably rambling a bit, but I didn't care. April glanced down at the glass of the game.

"He likes you, you know."

I blinked as I looked at her. Was I seriously hearing this? And from the same girl who apparently couldn't tell that Donnie was completely head over heels for her? …Eh, whatever.

"I suppose so, huh?"

"And… do you like him?"

I felt myself smile as I glanced away, my cheeks feeling warm. April chuckled, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"You two are the most typical girls in the world," said Angus as he marched up to us. "World's in danger, and all y'all can talk about is your crushes."

"You're done practicing your marching, I see," I said smartly.

April laughed a bit at that, and I grinned at her. Then, I heard footsteps come up from behind us, and I turned to see Mr. O'Neil standing there.

"Hi, Mr. O'Neil."

"Hello, Vanessa, Angus," he said plainly, then turned to April. "Hey April. Where is everybody?"

April instantly lost her smile as she stared down at the floor glumly. "The Kraang are making their move. Nia and the turtles are on their way to TCRI."

"TCRI? Oh no…"

"What's wrong?" April asked.

"The Kraang know that the turtles are coming for them."

"What?" Angus gasped.

"How do you know this?"

"Who cares?" I said. "We gotta call them!"

"Don't!" Mr. O'Neil said suddenly. "The Kraang have cracked the T-Phone's inscription. We've got to warn the turtles in person."

April stared up at him. "Uh…"

"I'm your father, April," said Mr. O'Neil, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You have to trust me."

April glanced around for a moment before nodding.

"Come on."

He turned and started to leave the lair, April following close behind.

"April?" Splinter said, suddenly marching up towards them. "Where are you going?"

"Nia and the turtles are in trouble," she said. "I've gotta go warn them."

"But, you know it is dangerous for you to be on the surface!" Splinter said firmly.

"Well, some of us can't just sit around and do nothing!"

And just like that, April turned and followed her father out of the lair. I stood there for a moment, staring after her. I turned to look at Angus, and he looked at me. I knew that look. We both nodded, and before Splinter could stop us, we ran past him and out over the turnstiles.

"Angus! Vanessa! No!" Splinter yelled. "It's is too dangerous for you!"

But we ignored him and kept on running.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

I stood on the edge of the building, at the very corner. I looked down to see how high up I was. I'd have plenty of time. I raised my head, and slowly fell forward until I fell off the ledge and went tumbling down. I waited a second before reaching up and pressing the button. The metal wings snapped out, and next thing I knew I was up high in the air, even higher than the building I had been on. I breathed in as the cool air hit me in the face, and I let out a joist laugh. Man, Donnie's inventions were getting seriously awesome.

I heard some laughter behind me, and I turned my head to see my bros following right behind me, wearing their own metal wings. I laughed as they steadily caught up with me.

"Hey, Donnie," I called out to him. "These things… are _awesome!_"

"I know, right?" he said happily.

"How's Metalhead doin'?" asked Raph.

Donnie gazed off as he pressed a button on the side of the Kraang-like headphone device on his head. Then he laughed.

"Don't worry about him. He's giving the Kraang on the ground floor what they deserve."

"Nice work, Donnie!" Raph shouted, sounding very impressed.

"Do you know what it's time for?" Mikey yelled out. "The world's first ever, midair, _high-three_!"

It seemed that not even Leo could resist such an occasion. We all turned our wings, met in a circle high in the air, and raised our hands in a magnificent, five-way high-three. It was pretty cool, to say the least. Afterwards, we broke off and went on gliding again.

"This is awesome!" Mikey yelled happily. "Turtles were born to fly!"

I giggled as I watched him do several loop-da-loops in the air.

"Alright, guys," said Leo, now serious again. "Let's do this."

We all flew forward, heading straight for TCRI. We all followed Leo's lead as we glided across the sky and around the building. We circled it until we came to a narrow ledge on the side were a group of pigeons were resting. As we landed most of them scattered, but one of them remained. I glanced over and saw Raph smirk.

"You got an idea?" I asked.

He nodded. Then, he leapt forward and snatched the bird in his hand. He backed up and slid across the wall until he was up by the little security camera that was on the corner. He lifted his hand that was holding the pigeon and used it to block the camera.

"Good plan," I said as I walked around him.

The others walked around him too, being sure not to fall or move Raph at all. Once we were all safe, Raph slowly set the bird down, stroked his head for a bit, and then walked on after us. I stayed behind and smirked at him.

"Making friends with birds, Snow White?"

Raph glared at me before shoving my shoulder irritably, but I just laughed. Me and him turned and carefully ran off after the others, stopping only when we reached them. They were holding very still, and Leo held his hand up to keep us still. He leaned forward and peeked just ever so barely around the corner. Then, he turned and whispered something to Donnie and Mikey. They nodded.

Leo walked pasted them and went over to us, and Donnie backed up several feet, drawing out his Bo staff. Mikey reached into his belt and pulled out some climbing claws and placed them on his hands. Then, waving at us, he leapt out from behind the corner and into the light.

"Hey, Kraang!"

He started making silly faces, laughing and doing noises. He danced around a bit before pretending to lose his balance and then falling off the ledge. He landed against the wall and stayed there, thanks to the claws. There was the sound of footsteps, and two Kraang droids stepped out to the ledge and looked down. Mikey smirked and pointed to the side. At that moment, the Donnie ran forward, swinging his staff. It knocked both of the droids off the edge and down to the far, far ground below. Donnie placed his staff back in its holster as Mikey climbed back up the wall.

"Nice one, bros," I told them.

Donnie reached behind him and pulled out a grappling hook. He pointed it outward and shot it, and the hook went out until it hit the opposite pillar of the building. I pulled out my kamas and hooked them over the rope, and followed the others as I slid down the rope.

As we reached the other side, Donnie looked around until he found a large, air vent against the wall. He pried the metal seal off and put it to the side. He took out some rope, then gestured at me.

"Nia. Knife."

I nodded as I walked over and kneeled next to him. I took a strong, throwing knife out of my belt and stabbed it hard into the surface. Donnie tied a long rope to it, good and tight, and then let it fall down the large vent.

"Everyone, be careful," Leo whispered. "And stay quiet."

"I wanna go first!" Mikey said, raising his hand up.

"You most certainly will not!" Donnie said angrily. "You'll give us away!"

"Keep your voices down!" Leo hissed.

I rolled my eyes as I leaned an arm on Raph's shoulder while we both watched the three bicker.

"Perfect time and place for this, eh?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah, definitely," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

I stared at my three arguing brothers for a moment before glancing over at Raph. He didn't look at me, but was looking at the others, a rather bored expression on his face. That's when I was reminded of something.

"Hey," I said, just loud enough so that only Raph could hear. "I forgot, what did you wanna talk with me about?"

Raph looked at me. "What?"

"Back at the lair. You wanted to talk to me about something. What was it?"

Raph blinked, the bored expression replaced with one of shock. He glanced away, shifting around so much that he accidently nudged my arm off of his shoulder. At least, it felt accidental.

"Oh… that," he said. "Um… it was nothing."

I frowned. "It didn't sound like nothing to me. You looked like you really wanted to tell me something."

"Right… Okay, I did, but it's no big deal, really."

"Well, what was it?" I asked. "Was it important?"

Raph folded his arms. "Um… Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Was it… bad?"

"Yeah- wait, no! I-I mean… Ugh, I don't know, uh… No, no it's not bad."

"So it's good?"

Raph shrugged. "Depends on how you look at it, I guess…"

"Hm…" I grinned. "Well, alright. We can talk about it as soon as this is all over then."

Raph grinned, shaking his head. "You don't worry about it, Nia. It's not a big deal."

"Dude, I know when you're lying," I playfully shoved his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll go home and worry about whatever it is then. I promise."

Raph rolled his eyes, looking slightly annoyed, but he was still smiling. Then he looked at me, and nodded.

"Alright. Deal."

"Dudes, c'mon!"

We both turned. Mikey was the only one remaining above the vent. It seems that he didn't get his wish to go first after all.

"We're coming," I said, seriousness coming back to me.

Mikey grabbed the rope and leapt down. Me and Raph looked at each other, smirked, then walked forward and too the rope as well.

* * *

**Splinter's P.O.V.**

"_Nia and the turtles are out there risking their lives…"_

I breathed in deeply, focusing my mind and my concentration.

"_Don't you think they could use your help…?"_

My fingers tensed up slightly as I tried to remain motionless.

"_Some of us can't just sit around and do nothing…!"_

I let out the breath I had been holding and groaned lowly. April's words were echoing in my ears, and Vanessa's and Angus' determined expressions were clear in my head. They were all so young, so rash, so unprepared. Vanessa and Angus had never even had training. How could I have let them go after April?

Suddenly, I heard soft footsteps. I instantly leapt to my feet and whipped around, grabbing my staff and holding out.

"Stop!"

It was Kirby O'Neil. I was just about to apologize for my outburst, when I realized that he was staring at me with blank, soulless eyes, almost like a robot. And, as I glanced around him, I noticed that April, Vanessa and Angus were not with him.

"Where are the children?" I asked firmly.

"Master Shredder wanted you to have this message," Kirby said mechanically.

"Master… Shredder?"

Then, from behind Kirby, came two little robots that my sons referred to as Mousers. They marched up to me, squealing loudly. They stopped in front of me and a bright red light issued from then, forming a huge hologram in front of me- a hologram of the Shredder.

"_So, Hamato Yoshi… You thought you could hide from me forever."_

_I have no need to hide from a coward like yourself, Saki, _I thought bitterly. But what the message said next made my heart stop.

"_I have April O'Neil, as well as her foolish companions Vanessa Higgins and Angus Carnell. And if you value their lives, you will come and face me like a man. We will finish what we started… all those years ago…"_

The message ended, and the hologram disappeared. Kirby stared at me blankly for a moment before turning and walking away with the robots. I suddenly dropped my stick and fell to my knees, my whole body feeling suddenly heavy. I took several long breaths, composing myself. I was foolish to let the children leave like that. I had to find them, I had to bring them back.

It was not long before I stood in front of the dark chapel. Lavinia was right- it did not look holy in any sort of way. I walked up the steps until I was right in front of the double doors. Before I could reach out and grab the handles, I heard movement. I knew it would be too easy to just walk inside. But, I knew that these small soldiers would not be a challenge. They all suddenly landed on either side of me, weapons drawn. One of them came at me, but I took him down easily.

In no time at all, all of the soldiers were down. I looked down at them before turning and finally heading through the doors. As expected, there were more soldiers inside, and of course, they charged at me. I easily knocked them down, threw them away, and knocked them into each other. To be fair, I wasn't truly focused on them, I was more focused on finding the children and getting them out.

As I reached another set of doors, I saw one soldier walk up to them, looking defeated as he pried the doors opened. He shuffled into the next room before falling to his knees and them his face. I marched up, grabbed him by his feet, and quickly dragged him back. I spun him around before throwing him back, and he landed in a pile of his fellow soldiers.

I easily snuck into the room and glided passed Bradford and Xever. I heard Bradford growl before swung his larger fist back to hit me, but I dodged. He tried to slam me into the ground, but again, I dodged. He made to grab me, but I leapt up, spun in the air, and kicked him in his large muzzle. He fell back and landed on the ground.

I had barely landed on my feet again before Xever came running at me and tried to kick me with his metal feet. I straightened up, hands up in defense. Xever huffed as he shuffled from side to side, looking for a good angle to attack. _So, this is the 'Xever' that my daughter dislikes so much, _I thought. _I can see why. _Xever hissed at me before swinging his legs at me again, flipping forward to hit me. I shifted to the side as he landed back on the ground. I heard growling behind me again, and at the last second I leapt back. Xever's foot, which had been aiming a kick at my face, instead landed right between Bradford's legs. I had to resist the urge to smirk as I heard him let out a high-pitched whine.

I turned, and Xever quickly leaped up to stomp on me again. I dodged, and quickly grabbed his tail. He hissed as he reared back and aimed to bite me, but I put his tail in front of me, and he bit himself instead. I quickly smacked him in his chest, and he flew back and landed against the wall, sliding down and falling into the water that lay on either side of the walkway.

I glanced behind me as I heard footsteps, but saw that Bradford had marched away, closing the doors behind him. Then, I heard a soft grunt, and turned my head to see April sitting on the low steps at the other end of the walkway. She was chained to the floor by her wrists, and was struggling to get free. I quickly, but quietly ran over to her, kneeling down before her.

"April, it is me," I whispered. "Do not make a sound, I will have you out in a moment."

I reached my hands out to grab the chains, but my hands went straight through them. I inhaled sharply. It was a hologram. The hologram of April's face grinned up at me before disappearing, revealing another Mouser behind the steps. I gasped, stepping back and throwing several shuriken, hitting the robot. I landed on my feet again, and then, I heard it. A deep, cold laughter that echoed throughout the whole room.

"Hamato Yoshi… I am so glad you accepted my… invitation…"

Suddenly, all around me, fire broke out throughout the entire hall, illuminating it in an almost unnatural glow. I whipped all around the room, trying to find where Shredder was hiding.

"What have you done with the children?" I demanded angrily.

"Now that you are here, Miss O'Neil is no longer any use to me, and her friends were never any use to begin with. They simply got in the way. I gave them all to my new friends, the Kraang."

I felt myself tense up. How could he have done such an idiotic thing?

"You _fool!_ Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Suddenly, something powerful hit me in the back, knocking me down. I fell on my front, but quickly pulled myself up. I heard the sound of shifting metal from behind me.

"Yes," he glowered. "I took your family away, and now I can put an end to you! Once, and for all…"

I lowered my head for a moment before finally standing to my feet. I reached up, and finally removed the hood of my robe from my head as I turned to face Shredder. It had been over 15 years since I had laid eyes on him, and he was even more menacing than he had been then. Clad completely in metal armor and blades on his arms, as well as a metal helmet… to hide his scars, no doubt.

"What? A rat?!" Shredder reared his head back and laughed. "I see you are as hideous as those turtles that surround you! At least your so-called daughter isn't nearly as grotesque as them."

I felt my hands clench as he dared mention Lavinia.

"Oh, how fitting… You're a rat who has been caught in my trap…"

"Look closely at this face, Shredder," I said lowly. "For it is the last thing you will ever see!"

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

After sneaking through the vents, we came out into the main room on the top floor. The room was filled with nothing but Kraang and Kraang tech. We were all hiding up in the shadows by the ceiling, hanging from several ropes we used so we could slide in unnoticed.

"We gotta take out that portal," Donnie whispered.

Then, there was a slow, loud rumble that made us all look up. I felt my stomach sink a little as I saw the huge Rock Giant that had been brought here the last time we were at TCRI. Remembering what that thing did to all of us, I silently prayed that this plan would go well for us.

"I forgot about him," Raph muttered.

"Same here," I told him.

"Don't worry, we'll be gone before that rock monster even knows we're here," said Donnie.

From next to me, Leo reached behind his shell and pulled out the disintegrator and powered it up, aiming down at the portal.

"Okay, guys," he breathed. "This all ends in 3… 2… 1."

With that, Leo pulled the trigger and fired at the portal. The ball of energy shot forward, hit the portal, and I almost beamed at the site. But, as the ball hit the portal, nothing happened, except the energy bounced off and evaporated into thin air. The portal sparked for a bit, revealing some kind of transparent shield encased around it, before it died down again.

"What? There's a force field?" Leo snapped, whipping around to face Donnie. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Well, because I wanted us to fail," Donnie said waspishly before yelling, "OVBIOUSLY, I DIDN'T KNOW!"

There wasn't much time for Leo to argue back. Thanks to the disintegrator not working out, our attack had revealed ourselves to the Kraang, who had all turned to face us and started firing lasers at us.

"Anyone got a plan B?" asked Raph.

There was a loud grumble from behind us, and I looked in time to see the rock monster glaring at us, a fist raised. We all gaped at him and screamed in shock before leaping out of the way of his oncoming fist. I fell down and tumbled a bit before landing in a crouch on my feet. I looked up to see Lea laying on his shell, the disintegrator still clutched in his hands. The rock giant turned and started stomping towards him, and Leo, clearly panicking a little, yelled and scooting across the smooth metal floor until his shell hit the opposite wall.

"Leo, used the gun!" I shouted.

Leo looked up at the monster before looking down at the gun. Then, he aimed it upward and fired just as the giant kicked its leg forward to hit him. The blast caused the monster's lower leg to snap off and slide down the opposite side of the room.

A bright pink laser suddenly zoomed by my face, and I yelped. I took out several throwing knives and threw them forward as I turned around. The knives all hit their targets, all the Kraang droids that got hit when down to their knees, due to the knives hitting their heads. I ran forward as I took out my tessen and knocked them all down, smacking them in the heads.

"Donnie, how's that plan B coming?" Leo called out.

"I'm thinking!"

"Think faster!"

Leo whipped around and fired the gun at the monster again, knocking off its arm. I sprinted past and headed towards Donnie. I threw my tessen, and it flew by and bounced against two Kraang droids heads. They fell down, and Donnie whipped around and knocked another droid body out towards the others, knocking them down. I raised my hand and grabbed my tessen as it came back to me.

"I can probably hack into the Kraang system if you give me enough time!" Donnie shouted.

"Great! Do that!" said Leo. "Nia, go up there with him and keep the Kraang off him."

"Right!"

Donnie and I both ran off and leapt up to an upper level, two floating Kraang aliens zooming towards us. He knocked out one and I knocked out the other. Then, he went over to a panel and set his bag down, taking out a small contraption that he hooked up. I looked down at it, and instantly recognized it.

"Donnie, did you really use our toaster?" I asked angrily.

"I needed to use something," he defended as he went to work. "And that toaster was the best I could find."

"Dude! Do you know how long it's been since me and Mikey have had toaster waffles? Three weeks! _Three weeks, Donnie!_"

Another laser shot past me, and I angrily whipped around and threw my tessen. It shot forward before coming back and hitting the droid in the head. I caught it as it came back.

"This thing's running out of juice!" he said.

"And guys, look!" Mikey yelled. "The portal!"

I whipped around to look at the portal, and saw that it was powering up.

"Whatever's coming through the portal's gonna be here soon!" said Leo.

"When's that forcefield coming down, Donnie?" asked Raph.

"I'm working on it!"

"Try to work a little faster, okay Don?" I told him seriously.

I heard loud stomping and kicking, and turned to see Leo kicking all of the floating aliens away from him. He kicked the last one really hard and it smacked the rock giant in the face. This gave Leo enough time to leap up into the air and aim the gun at the monsters chest. He yelled loudly before pulling the trigger, and the giant exploded as all of his limbs flew off of his torso. Leo leapt back, landing next to Mikey as the bits of rock fell to the ground. The monster stirred around a bit before growling, and suddenly its body parts started scooting over back to it again.

"I forgot he could do that," Mikey trembled.

"Not good, not good," Leo muttered.

"Guys, I think I've got it!" Donnie hollered.

I turned and he and I both looked down at the toaster. The panel made a loud beeping sound before suddenly, a tiny holla girl bobble doll popped out of one of the slots. I raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Donnie shrugged. There was a loud whirring sound as the portal made a noise that sounded like it was shutting down. The portal was deactivated.

"Yes!" Donnie shouted. "All hail me!"

Before I could congratulate him on his victory, there was a bright flashing light as the portal suddenly opened up.

"Uh-oh," Donnie muttered. "Guys?"

None of us said anything, we were too shocked to speak. There was a loud rumbling noise, and as I looked through the glass window I saw a bright glowing pink light, and something big- _very _big- come into focus. It was gigantic, bigger than the Kraang scouting ship from a few weeks ago. _I'm guessing that's the Technodrome…_

"Holy giant floating shippy-ship," Mikey whispered.

The Kraang droids all suddenly advanced on us all at once and started shooting at us.

"Leo!" Mikey yelled. "Do the zippy-zappy thing now!"

Leo gripped the gun tightly in his grasp. "Come on baby, come one baby. _Come on, baby!_"

Then, as though it were actually listening to him, the gun made a loud sound as it powered back up.

"Yes!" Leo shouted. "Say goodnight, Kraang!"

He sprang to his feet, whipped around, and aimed the gun at the portal as he pulled the trigger. But even as he did, the gun made a pathetic poof… and powered down. We all sat there, our jaws hanging open.

"What the heck happened?!" Donnie shrieked.

"I think the batteries died!" said Leo.

"And we'll be joining them, unless someone thinks of something!" Raph shouted.

"What's plan C, Leo?"

Leo didn't respond to Donnie. Instead, he started looking around, as though hoping some wonderful escape plan would just jump out and greet him.

"Um, Leo? Plan?" I urged him.

"I think I got one," he said, and he turned to Donnie. "Donnie, what would happen if I ruptured the power cell?"

"The whole place would go up," Donnie said. "With us in it!"

I shook my head. There had to be something we could do. Then I saw the look on Leo's face as he stood up, drawing one of his katanas out.

"Go!" he ordered.

"Whoa, Leo!" Donnie stopped him. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Leo didn't answer. Instead, he turned and started charging of in the opposite direction, katana in hand.

"He's thinking it!"

The other three instantly turned and started heading for the glass by the roof. I followed after them, but as I reached the window and turned around. Leo was zigzagging through the whole room, taking out every droid he came across. I felt a surge of uneasiness swirl in my stomach as I watched him.

"Nia, c'mon!" Raph shouted as he leapt out the window.

I knew there was no time to muck around. Hating myself for it, I whipped around and ran forward, leaping out of the broken window. As soon as I reached the air I pressed the button on my chest and the wings shot out. I glided forward, following close behind the other three. We didn't go too far away from the building though. I turned around to look up at the sky, at the black, swirling clouds.

Suddenly, there was a huge bang, a flashing pink light, and the roof of the TCRI building exploded. Leo had destroyed the portal. As bits of marble and deabre flew out, I noticed a larger dark figure falling down towards the ground- a figure with something blue around their head…

"Leo!"

Without hesitation, Raph shot forward, heading right for the falling turtle. Me and the other two followed after him, coming closer and closer. Leo was reaching the ground fast, he was about to crash. But then, Raph swooped in at the last minute and grabbed his brother by the shoulders, pulling him up.

"Gotcha!" Raph cheered. "In your face, gravity!"

Leo sighed. "Oh… thanks, Raph."

"Any time, buddy."

"Now Leo," I said in a playfully stern voice. "What did I say about doing stupid, dangerous stunts?"

Leo laughed. "Sorry, mother."

"Oh, shut it! Just don't do that again."

"Ha! I can't believe it!" Donnie cried. "We saved the world!"

"Yeah!" Mikey yelled happily. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Before any of us could respond, there was a loud rumbling sound, and we all looked up. I felt my heart sink as I gazed up at the ginormous Kraang ship that was soaring right above us. It was much, much bigger up close, and much, much scarier-looking. We yelped as we swerved to get out of the way. We floated up in the air, staring at the monster of a ship. I could practically feel the other's dread and fear radiating off of them, and I felt just as bad. From beside me, Mikey whimpered.

"Ah… I gotta stop sayin' stuff like that…"


	33. Showdown: Part 2

**1 year and 6 months... That's how long it's taken to finish this story. Was that how long i intended? No... Was it worth it? Hell freaking yes! Guys, after months and months of preparation and work, i am please to present the final chapter... of this story...**

**Before we begin, i would like to mention a few people who have helped me along the road continuously and greatly...**

**grapejuice101, bluebarnowl, and TheMysteriousSecretiveWriter. They were the ones who helped me constantly, even when I had writers block. Thank you guys, for everything! If there was anyone else that i forgot to mention, please forgive me. My human brain is not perfect, i can't remember everything.**

**Now, without further a due...**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

Ch. 28  
Showdown: Part 2

You know, of all the ways this mission could've gone, I didn't expect this. Not by a long-shot. I was sure once we had destroyed the portal that we would be home free. But, staring up at the gigantic Technodrome, I felt immensely grateful that April, Vanessa and Angus were safe in the lair.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say… Ah! _Ah! AHH…!_" Mikey screamed fearfully.

"You and me both, buddy!" I piped up, my voice shaking slightly.

"What the heck is that thing?!" Raph yelled.

Leo, who was still on Raph's back, responded, "It's the end of the world!"

"Actually," Donnie cut in. "It just the end of humanity's rain as the planet's dominant life form. You know, like, when the dinosaurs-"

"Now?! Really?!" Leo cut him off angrily. "You're gonna do this now?"

"Well, excuse me!" Donnie snapped. "But, it's how I deal with stress!"

"Guys, stop it!" I hollered. "We gotta stop fighting and get away from that thing, we have no idea what it's capable of!"

"Well, maybe it doesn't have weapons," Raph said, rather hopefully. "Does it look like it has weapons?"

I had just enough time to turn my head before several, giant pink lasers shot out passed us.

"Guys!" I yelled. "It has weapons, and big ones!"

As soon as I spoke, the weapons started firing at maximum amount. I had to constantly swerve and duck and dodge just to avoid getting hit at all. The boys were the same, yelling as they looped around and around to avoid the lasers. Mikey soon went out of control, and he rammed right into Donnie.

"Donnie! Mikey!" Leo yelled.

The two went spinning as they crashed into the roof of a nearby building. I gasped and instantly went after them, dodging the lasers. I landed gracefully onto the roof and ran over to the other two.

"Guys, are you okay?" I asked urgently.

"We're cool!" Mikey said, helping Donnie up.

"Where're the others?"

I whipped around, looking up at the sky. As soon as I did, I saw the figure of Raph start falling down, heading towards the alley next to the building we were on. I gestured for the other two to follow me, and we all ran over to the ledge, leaping over it and sliding down fire escape.

As I landed on the ground I saw Leo laying on a filthy mattress, and Raph was leaning out of a nearby dumpster. I would've laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Are you guys alright?" Donnie asked.

"Been better," Raph groaned.

At that moment, a huge shadow loomed over us, and I looked up to see the Technodrome hovering above us. Somehow, it looked scarier down here than it did when I was up in the air.

"What do we do now?" Donnie asked Leo.

"We need to talk to Splinter," he said. "C'mon!"

* * *

"Hello? Sensei?"

"April?"

"Spike?!"

Raph looked around the living room, searching for his pet. Then, there was movement from one of the pillows on in the pit, and Spike lifted his little head. Raph immediately ran forward and picked the little turtle up, placing him on his shoulder.

"Oh, don't scare me like that, buddy," he sighed, smiling down at his pet.

I grinned at him before looking around. Aside from the pet turtle, the whole living room seemed to be empty. I would've expected Vanessa and Angus to at least be in this room when we got here.

"Where is everyone?" I said out loud.

"I dunno," said Mikey.

He turned and started heading towards the dojo, and I followed behind him. To my surprise, Sensei wasn't in here. I was sure that he and April would've been here. Maybe he was in his room?

"Anyone in here?" Mikey asked, looking around.

"Sensei?" I called out. "Are you there?"

But there was no response. Then, from behind me, I heard shuffling. I glanced behind me, and gasped as I ducked to avoid the oncoming staff that had been heading for my face.

"Mikey, watch it!"

I heard Mikey yell as he avoided the staff too. I looked up and was surprised to see Mr. O'Neil was the one wielding the staff.

"Wow dude, chill!"

"Hey!"

I whipped around to see Leo, Donnie and Raph running into the dojo. They all leapt forward and pinned Mr. O'Neil to the ground. I ran forward and snatched the staff from his hands.

"What the heck is going on?" Raph said, staring down at Mr. O'Neil.

"Guys, check this out!"

Donnie pulled the back of Mr. O'Neil's collar down, and we all saw a small, metal object attached to the back of his neck that was blinking pink.

"Kraang tech, anyone?" I said.

It took Donnie half an hour to take the object off of Mr. O'Neil's neck. Whatever it was, it was making the man act super strange. It wasn't until Donnie had removed it that he finally had a chance to get a good look at it.

"So, what is it?" Leo asked.

"I think it's a mind control device."

"Really?" Raph asked wickedly, and before any of us could stop him, he snatched the device from Donnie and pulled Mikey forward by the arm.

"No, stop it! _Stop it!_"

"Raph," Leo said sternly.

Raph rolled his eyes and released Mikey. Then, from behind us, there was a low groan. I turned and saw that Mr. O'Neil was awake again and was now sitting up on the couch.

"Mr. O'Neil?" Donnie spoke up as we all ran towards the tired man. "Are you okay?"

Mr. O'Neil rubbed his forehead. "I… I've done something terrible…"

Donnie put a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Mr. O'Neil."

"Yeah, you were being controlled against your will," I said. "Just tell us what happened and we'll take care of it."

Mr. O'Neil stared up at us, then lowered his head as he sighed.

"It appears the Kraang have formed an alliance with your enemy, Shredder," he said. "That's not all. I fear Shredder has handed April over to the Kraang."

"Shredder kidnapped April?!" Donnie yelped.

"Sensei must've gone after her," said Raph.

"But, what about Vanessa and Angus?" I asked urgently. "They're gone, too."

"Ugh… it's kind of blurry…" Mr. O'Neil said tiredly. "But… I do remember leading April away from the lair, and… and Vanessa and Angus followed me. Once they realized what was going on they tried to run, but…"

I felt my heart stop. Shredder kidnapped Vanessa and Angus too? What did he do with them? Did he hand them over to the Kraang as well? Or… did he do something much worse…? If so… it's all my fault that they're in this mess in the first place.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and I turned my head to see Raph looking at me.

"They're okay, Nia," he said. "Don't worry."

I gulped, and nodded, trying to convince myself that Raph was right.

"So, where is April now?" asked Donnie.

"They're taking her to the Technodrome," said Mr. O'Neil.

"The what?"

But before Raph's question could be answered, there came a voice right behind us. And it was coming from the TV.

"_Carlos Chang O'Brien Gambe here. Pandemonium in the streets as a… Techno-terror-dome… hovers over downtown…"_

"Dudes," Mikey quivered. "This is gettin' freakier by the minute!"

"We just escaped that freaky sphere!" Raph snapped. "Now we gotta break into it?!"

"We don't have a choice, Raph," I said seriously. "April's in there, and Vanessa and Angus are probably in there too. We have to help them before something bad happens to them."

"In a manner of hours," said Mr. O'Neil. "The world we once knew will be gone. The Kraang want April to help in their conquest of Earth!"

* * *

**April's P.O.V.**

I could feel something cold and metal across my chest and legs, holding me down. Memories of what had happened flashed, and I struggled to wake up and open my eyes. A few moments later, I opened them. The first thing I saw was a pair of big, yellow eyes before I realized I was staring up at a Kraang alien. Not like the usual little brain things. This one was huge- gigantic even, and was contained in some kind of metal sphere that was holding it up in the air. I gasped at the creature before instinctively trying to move around, but I was kept still by the metal arms holding me down.

"April O'Neil…" the Kraang drawled out softly. "Kraang has waited a long time…"

"Where am I? What's going on?" I asked, looking around the room. Then I gasped, "My friends! Where are they? Where did you take them?!"

"The humans that were with you during the drop off were put into a separate pod from yours," the creature said lowly. "They will be brought here, and placed into one of our chambers. Do not worry, they will not be put to waste. They will be used by Kraang for future experiments for Kraang, just like the other humans we have captured."

I glared up at the alien. "Who are you?"

"Like all Kraang, I am called 'Kraang'. But you can call me 'Kraang,'" it answered. "Kraang has need of this planet for Kraang to live on."

"Um, that's great, but we're kind of using it," I said waspishly. "So, you came all this way for nothing. Bummer."

"No… Kraang came all this way for you, April O'Neil."

I scoffed. "Oh, really? As if I have anything to offer to you Kraangs!"

"Your mental energy is uniquely in tuned to this universe," said Kraang. "Once Kraang gains this ability, Kraang will transform your world into a world for Kraang…"

I gulped, feeling my heartbeat start to pick up much more.

"And… how are you going to do that, exactly…?"

Kraang didn't answer. But, as soon as I spoke, multiple strange, long, mechanical devices shot out all around me, all of them glowing pink. They all made strange whirring sounds as they inched closer and closer to me. I started struggling against the metal bindings, but couldn't budge. The second the devices touched me, I felt a sudden jolt and I screamed.

* * *

**Splinter's P.O.V.**

"Oroku Saki… You were once my friend, I thought of you as my brother. There was a time where I would have trusted you with my very life. But, 15 years ago, I was a different man. I had everything I could want- a loving wife and a beautiful daughter…"

I blinked, and for a moment I could see myself, 15 years earlier. I was sitting in my home next to my wife, Tang-Shen, and holding my beloved daughter, Miwa. Then, the memory faded, and I was left standing in front of the monster who took that family away from me.

"And you, my _loyal friend_… Jealousy consumed you. You sought that which was mine. You took everything that I loved. Everything! And still, you hunt me down!"

The memory of my home erupting in flames flashed in front of me, and I remembered being crushed underneath the rubble as the Shredder walked away, never looking back.

"So, I fight you now… to end this!"

I clenched my fists tightly, and without another word I leapt forward, Shredder doing the same. We met in the center and I spun and aimed a powerful kick that struck his face. He aimed to strike me once, twice, and on the third time I leapt up into the air and landed back several feet, grabbing my staff off of the ground. Shredder charged at me, and I ran forward, raising my staff to block his blades from hitting me. But then he aimed a punch at me that managed to strike my torso. But, I recovered quickly and slipped by him, leaping into the air and aiming my staff at his head. But, he dodged, and rolled out of the way. He leapt up to the upper level, and I tossed shuriken at him, but missed. I then leapt up to join him on the same level.

There was a short pause, in which we glared at each other. I spread my feet out more on the class, but suddenly it fell open, and I fell down onto the concrete below me. I quickly pushed myself up, shaking my head as I looked back up through the glass, but Shredder was gone. I got up to my feet and looked around, standing in defense. I slowly walked around the area, keeping an eye out for the Shredder. I heard movement from behind me, and I whipped around, throwing more shuriken. But, the stars only met with one of the decorative boulders that surrounded me down here.

I stood very still, staring around me. He could not stay hidden forever. Then, I heard movement above me, and I looked up in time to see him charging down towards me. I raised my staff and blocked his attach, pushing him back. When I looked up, he was gone again. Then, from behind me, there was a loud noise, like a lever being pulled. I turned around and saw sudden bursts of fire, coming closer and closer towards me. I turned and ran forward, leaping off the boulders to stay above the fire. On the last boulder, I gave a powerful leapt, and landed back above onto the main floor. I looked up to see Shredder standing there. The second I looked at him, he lunged at me again

I aimed my staff at him, but he blocked it. I spun around, blocking his next two hits. I lunged my staff forward towards his face, but he blocked it with his blades, a second later slicing the top. He leapt up into the air, aiming his blades at me. Little does he know that the top of the staff was just a holster for the katana hidden inside. As he lunged at me, I lunged at him as well. Somehow, we were both able to avoid each other's blades. He slide passed me and halted just a few feet away from me.

"Why must you persist in this insanity?!" I demanded of him.

"You took Tang-Shen from me!"

"She was never yours!"

I grabbed the end of the hilt and pulled it out, exposing the long rope inside. I swiftly threw it forward at Shredder, who raised his hand to block it. But, the rope had wrapped around his gauntlet. I leapt up into the air, moving the rest of the rope around his torso, tying him up. I landed on my feet and raised the blade up, lunging at him as fast as I could. Shredder managed to raise one of his arms and blocked my attack. But, my katana managed to slice off one of the blade from his gauntlet.

"You never had anything but your hatred!" I yelled. "And if you defeat me, you will have _nothing!_"

Shredder growled loudly before finally busting through the ropes. He lunged his blades at me, and I leapt back, landing far away from him. Shredder straightened up, and to my surprised, he reared his head back and roared with laughter.

"_That _is where you are wrong!" he bellowed. "You took something from me, so I took something from you- _Your daughter!_"

My heart seemed to stop right at that moment. My blood ran cold, and my whole body felt numb. No, it couldn't be true. Miwa died in the fire with Tang-Shen. But… we never could find her body, but I thought she had just perished in the flames. But, this… can't be true… it couldn't be true. I felt the katana in my hand slip a little.

"No… it can't be…"

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

The surface was complete chaos. People everywhere were screaming and running, completely in panic. What was more, the Technodrome had dispensed some kind of pods, and they were swooping all over the city, scooping up pedestrians.

Right now, the guys and I were crouched behind a few abandoned cars. On the other side was a large group of Kraang droids, and a pod.

"We gotta get in one of those pods," Leo whispered.

"But how?" asked Donnie. "There are eight Kraang droids between us and there."

"We could create a diversion."

"Well, whatever we do, we gotta do it fast," I said. "Those pods aren't gonna be there forever."

"Excuse me, how many did you say there were?" Raph asked.

"Eight."

"We could all dress like robots!" Mikey said enthusiastically. "Sneak in!"

I chuckled as I rolled my eyes. Leo and Donnie were not so amused.

"Or… I could try to override their security codes by-"

But Donnie's explanation was cut off at the sound of grunts and banging metal. We all whipped around, and I was surprised to see Raph standing on top of one of the pods. Apparently, he had snuck passed us and took it upon himself to take care of the droids. He gave the decapitated on that was standing next to him a good kick, and knocked it off. Then he raised his sai into the air, and cause the droid's head on the blade. He smirked at us, spinning the head on his sai.

"Or… that might work…" Leo said shortly. "Let's go."

We all leapt up over the cars and jumped into the pod. I walked up to Raph, placing my hands on my hips.

"You never fail to surprise me," I told him. "And that's saying something, considering we both grew up with Mikey."

Raph flicked the droid head off of his sai, smirking before winking at me. I looked at him curiously.

"Hold on," Donnie said, reaching up and pulling the glass shield down over us.

We all kneeled down as the shield shut on us. A few moments later, the pod hovered up a bit, and then started to float away into the sky. The pod reached closer and closer to the Technodrome, until a small door opened up, and the pod floated through it. The inside was nothing but a long, seemingly endless hall of chambers. Hundreds of other pods were floating down the hall, some being pulled off into different chambers by mechanical claws.

"Okay guys, this is it," Leo said in a hushed voice. "On three. One… Two… Three!"

Raph grabbed the edge of the glass shield and swung it opened. We all made to jump out, but the second we stood up our bodies all lifted up into the air. I felt my stomach backflip as I yelled out in surprise, the boys doing the same thing.

"Bloody hell- what?" I hollered.

"What the heck's going on?" Raph gasped.

"I think the Kraang forgot to pay their gravity bill!" Mikey yelled.

A second later, a mechanical claw shot out and grabbed Mikey, pulling him into the chamber. I gasped in shock. Then, behind me, I heard some metal shifting around. I turned my head to see another claw from a few spaces back shoot Mikey back out again. He groaned, spinning in the air slightly.

"It appears the Kraang have generated antigravitons!" said Donnie.

"Is there any way for you to generate anti-antigravitons?" Leo asked him.

"You mean gravitons?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Guys, I'm gonna throw up," Mikey warned us. "Or down. Or maybe sideways. But one things for sure, I'm majorly gonna throw!"

"Mikey, don't you dare!" I said firmly. "If you throw up and it starts flying everywhere, we're gonna have serious problems!"

Another pod coming up from behind Mikey came forward against him, pushing him back towards us.

"We still have a job to do," Leo said, his voice determined. "So, let's go!"

With that, we all floated forward and grabbed onto the edges of the portal. It pulled us forward down the hall, taking us past several chambers of pods. Suddenly, halfway down the hall, I heard my name.

"Nia!"

I blinked and whipped around to face the pod that was right in front of us. I gasped. Vanessa and Angus were inside, banging their fists against the glass.

"Guys, look!" I shouted at the others before pushing off to the next pod.

"Ness!" I heard Mikey cry out, following right behind me.

"Stand back!" I told them.

They did as they were told and stood at the back of the pod. I took out one of my kamas, and Mikey shot out the blade from his kusarigama chain. We both reached up and then shoved the blades underneath the glass sphere, grunting loudly as we pried it open. I threw the shield up and reached out.

"C'mon, you two."

"Thank god," Angus breathed, running forward and grabbing my hands. "I thought we'd never see yah again."

"Dudes, what happened?" Mikey asked as he helped carry Vanessa out of the pod.

"It was an accident," she said, sounding close to tears. "April was leaving with her dad to go help you guys. We didn't want them going alone, so we followed. But…" she looked at me sadly. "Nia, I'm sorry… we didn't mean to…"

"It doesn't matter," I said, floating forward and pulling her in for a hug. "What matters is that you're safe."

"Alright, you two," Leo said seriously. "You're not getting out of this mess until we do, so you gotta stay close and hang low. Don't get yourselves into any more trouble. Understand?"

"Got it," said Angus, while Vanessa nodded.

"Good," Leo looked around, then gasped, "Quick! This way!"

We all followed him into the chamber right next to us, floating as fast as we could. We all floated in and leaned against the chamber wall. A few moments later, a group of Kraang aliens came floating past, screeching in their weird language.

"This is seriously trippy," said Vanessa, staring down at her own floating figure. "But, kinda fun."

"Yo, zero G is _bangin'_!" cheered Mikey, who was currently floating upside down. "The Kraang should turn this into a carnival ride!"

"Uh, I think they're more interested in using it to destroy the earth," Leo said firmly.

Mikey shrugged. "It could do both."

Suddenly, there was a loud, piercing scream that echoed all throughout the chambers.

"The hell?" gasped Angus.

"It's April!" Donnie cried.

"Can you guys say that a little louder?" Raph snapped in a hushed voice. "I don't think the entire Technodrome heard you!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, what looked like fifty floating Kraang aliens suddenly appeared at the entrance of the chamber we were in. Raph stared in surprise before shaking his head.

"Never mind. They did."

Without needing to be told, the boys took out their weapon, ready to charge at the wall of Kraang. I turned back to see Angus and Vanessa floating behind me, looking confused as to what to do. Well, I could just leave them defenseless, but I had to help my brothers. All of the boys started to go out after the Kraang, but I quickly grabbed Raph's arm before he could leave.

"What?"

I nodded over at Angus and Vanessa. He seemed to understand. He rummaged around in his belt for a moment before pulling out a pair of brass knuckles.

"Hey Angus, heads up!"

He tossed the knuckles, and Angus floated forward, grabbing both pairs in his hands.

"Knock yourself out, dude!" he said enthusiastically before following his brothers out.

Angus stared down at the knuckles for a moment, then he adopted a look of determination as he places the weapons on his hands. I floated over towards then, reaching into my back pocket and taking out a pair of throwing knives. I quickly thrust them into Vanessa's empty hands.

"Stay on your toes, you two," I said. "And stay focused."

They both nodded. With that, I turned and leapt out of the chamber, pulling my kamas out. A Kraang alien shot straight for me, and I kicking it so hard it slammed against the roof. I wasn't sure how well my kamas would work in zero gravity, so I decided to not throw them this time. I floated forward and pushed my feet off against the wall, charging at a group of Kraang. I swung my kamas out, knocking two of them to the side and pushing the third out of the way.

As I straightened up, I saw Angus float up from the floor, holding his fists up. I Kraang screeched and shot straight towards him. Angus glared up at it before raised his fist and giving the alien a good punch to the face. The creature floated back, dazed, and Angus lunged forward and kneed the aliens floating pod, knocking it back several feet. Angus' face changed to one of success, and he hollered before floating forward, brass knuckles raised.

"This should be interesting," I muttered.

From below me I heard a yell and looked down. Vanessa was standing with her back to the wall, three Kraang aliens advancing on her. I was about the float down to help her, but then I saw the expression on her face shift. Her eyes narrowed, and I saw her spin the knives around her fingers before stepping forward. The alien at the front of the group floated forward, but Vanessa swung her knives forward, causing the alien to fall back. The other two Kraang shot forward at her, but she swung the blades at their faces, knocking them down. I quickly kicked off and floated down next to her.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, surprised.

"My uncle Dennis taught me how to use butterfly knives," she said, spinning one of the knives on her finger. "Wanted to make sure I could protect myself in the city."

I grinned at her. At that moment, there was a loud, rumbling sound that vibrated throughout the halls. I realized that it was coming from the Technodrome itself.

"That can't be good," said Leo.

There was a loud screech, and a Kraang suddenly lunged at Vanessa, grabbing onto her shoulders. She yelled, and I snap-kicked the thing off of her. She spun around and swung her blade at it. Then, another alien snuck up behind me and grabbed me around the throat. I choked, grabbing onto the metal arms to pry them off. Then, Angus lunged out of nowhere and punched the alien off of me with his knuckles.

"You okay, Nia?" he asked.

"I'm good," I breathed, rubbing my throat.

Suddenly, pink lasers started to fire at us. I looked down the hall and saw several Kraang aliens coming at us, firing their lasers.

"Let's finish these creeps!" said Raph.

I smirked before following him and the others down the hall, leaping against the walls to avoid the lasers. It seemed that, despite the situation, the boys were having fun fighting in zero gravity. Not that I blamed them, I was having a blast too. We all hooted and hollered as we leapt off the wall, coming closer and closer to the aliens. One at a time, Raph, Mikey, Donnie and I all took out one of the floating aliens, knocking them down. The last one stood floating in the air for a moment before Leo leapt down and crushed it onto the ground.

"I think that's all of them," I said, looking around the empty hall.

Suddenly, there was a loud, distant scream.

"That's April!" cried Vanessa.

I looked around and saw Raph was pressing his head to the floor. Then he raised his sai and struck it into the floor. He pried open the metal slot and it floated away. Now, we could hear April screaming and what sounded like cruel laughter coming from below. Raph went through first, and the others followed him.

"C'mon," I said to Angus and Vanessa before following the boys in.

* * *

**Splinter's P.O.V.**

This… this cannot be happening. It just couldn't be true. Shredder continued to laugh.

"Do not look so glum, Hamato," he jeered. "After all, you managed to find a replacement for your little Miwa. What is that strange girl's name again? Lavinia, wasn't it?"

Hearing him mention Lavinia seemed to snap me out of my temporary trance. I shook my head slightly, and glared at Shredder with anger.

"No one could EVER replace Miwa," I growled. "But, that does not meant that I value Lavinia less than I did her."

Shredder scoffed. "Value? You do not even value her for what she really is!" he glared at me. "You do not even know who she truly is, do you?"

I stared at him. What was he talking about?

"Ha, you don't. I'm surprised at you, Hamato. I would've thought you of all people would have seen it."

"Seen what?" I snapped. "What games are you playing, Shredder?"

"You know I play no games, rat," Shredder spat. "You must know who the girl looks like- who she reminds you of."

I narrowed my eyes at him, but did not move. Whatever was going on, it did not seem to be any kind of trick. Then, Shredder started to move, and so did I, and we began to circle each other.

"Tell me, Hamato," said Shredder. "Do you remember someone by the name of… Angelina Carnell?"

I gasped slightly. Suddenly, memories began to flash in front of me; memories of me, Oroku Saki, and a small, blonde girl with emerald green eyes. Angelina Carnell. She was a young, American girl who came to Japan every summer. She, Oroku Saki, and I were the greatest of friends growing up. I shook my head, keeping my eyes on Shredder.

"Of course I remember her," I said lowly. "How could I possibly forget?"

Shredder glared at him through his mask. "Do you remember what happened to her 15 years ago?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Fifteen… Fifteen years ago Angelina vanished. Her and her husband disappeared."

"Of course they did. No one ever saw them again. I'm glad to see you also failed in that category as well, Hamato-"

"What about you!" I yelled. "You were her friend too, Saki! I didn't see you coming to America to help find her!"

"You know as well as I do that she never wanted to see me again!" Shredder snapped. "Not after what happened between us."

I shook my head. "Angelina has been gone for over 15 years now, Saki," I said. "Why bring her up now? What has she got to do with this?"

"She has got everything to do with that little girl you call a daughter. Don't you see, Hamato? The second I saw her little face, I knew…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Of course, I couldn't be sure just based on an observation," Shredder continued, now talking more to himself than to me. "I had to be sure- thoroughly sure. I had to act fast. I stole the girl's watch around her neck the night I fought her and the turtles. It was not much, but it was enough. I had that fool Baxter Stockman analyze the DNA found on the watch."

I stared at Shredder. What was he on about? Then, he looked up at me.

"Tell me, Hamato… when Angelina disappeared, she was pregnant wasn't she?"

"What does that have to do with-"

"Wasn't she?!"

I glared at him. "Yes, she was. But, what does that have to do any of this?"

"Because Angelina's DNA is still in the system. I had Stockman compare her DNA with your daughter's," Shredder seemed to smirk beneath the mask. "Their DNA matched."

It was at that moment that I finally realized what Shredder was trying to say, and it made me stop where I stood. All of a sudden, everything seemed to be coming back. Memories of Lavinia, of her laughing, smiling and crying… It was then that I realized how similar they were to Angelina's. How did I not see it before? Perhaps I saw it when Lavinia was a child, but pushed it aside, assuming it was just painful memories coming back to haunt me? Perhaps I just passed it off as a coincidence that they were similar and simply forgot all about it.

"No…" I shook my head. "You are lying!"

But, I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't lying.

"Oh, I can't assure you, I'm not. In fact, I'm surprised it took you this long to realize the truth. But, that does not matter! You won't have to worry about it for long. Soon, I will bring you to your end. And once I do, I will defeat those turtles of yours as well, and I will take your daughter for my own, just as I did so many years ago," Shredder threw his arms out, the blades of his gauntlets shooting out. "You were not worthy of raising Tang-Shen's daughter, why should I leave Angelina's daughter to the same fate?"

Without warning, Shredder suddenly lunged at me again. The long break and the shocking news I received had left me in such shock that I was not ready. His punch hit me in the torso, knocking me back. I quickly got into a defensive stance and was able to block his next few hits. I aimed a kick at his feet, but missed. Suddenly, he started hitting my face repeatedly before swinging back and knocking me backwards. I felt dazed as I looked up, but he was right there. I caught a glimpse at his fist before it connected with my nose, knocking me off my feet so hard that I fell backwards and landed on my stomach. I groaned painfully, pushing myself onto my hands and knees.

"It's over, Hamato," Shredder glowered. "Soon you will be no more, and your own daughter Miwa will go through her life cursing your name. And, by the time I'm finished with your lovely Lavinia… she won't even remember you or those turtles she cares so deeply for."

I felt a surge of rage suddenly rush through me as I snapped my head up to glare at Shredder. How dare he take my daughter away! How dare he threaten Lavinia! The anger burst through me, and I lunged forward, dodging Shredder's blade. He whipped around and thrust it at me again, but this time I dodged and bit down on the blade with my teeth. I glared at him as I snapped the blade off. I flipped over and gave him a powerful kick to the chest, knocking him off of his feet. I landed on all fours on the ground and then lunged at him.

Shredder regained his stance and tried to block me, but I was too quickly. I delivered punch after punch, hitting all of his important spots and not slowing down. I couldn't slow down even if I wanted to. My mind was reeling, my blood was pumping, I had never been so angry before in my life! I continued to strike him over and over again, each hit getting harder and faster than the last. Then, I spun around and kicking him in the chest again, sending him backwards. He landed on the ground and started throwing shuriken at me. I ran forward, dodging all of his stars. I ran in circles around him, trying to distract him. It worked. He stopped when he finally looked at me, and I lunged at him. I moved so fast he had no time to even react. I was hitting him everywhere I could, doing everything I could. Finally, I knocking in into the air, leapt up, and did yet another powerful kick. This one sent him slamming into the stairway of his throne, knocking his helmet clean off.

Shredder lay there, glaring up at me, his scared face ugly and unrecognizable. I wasted no time in picking up my katana and sprinting forward, determined to do what I should have done 15 years ago.

"No!"

Suddenly, a blade blocked my path. I roared as I whipped around, striking at the figure who had stopped me. They blocked my strike and held our blades in place. I glared down at my new opponent, and saw that it was a girl. A young one, too. This must be the Karai girl that Leonardo had talked about constantly. Suddenly, as I stared at her face, into her eyes. They were just like Shen's…

"Miwa…?"

The girl pulled her blade back and swung it forward. It struck my shoulder, but only slightly. I moved out of the way, holding my shoulder gingerly. I saw the girl run back behind me, towards the Shredder.

"Father!" she cried.

I inhaled sharply and looked around. The girl was helping Shredder to sit up, holding him gently.

"Karai…" Shredder groaned, pointing a finger at me. "That rat is… Hamato Yoshi…"

I stared at them. "Miwa…"

"My name is Karai!" the girl snapped at me. "Father told me what you did to my mother, and now I'm going to return the favor!"

From behind her, Shredder smirked at me, chuckling darkly. The girl- _Miwa_\- withdrew her sword again and started charging towards me.

"No!" I cried.

I turned and sprinted away, leaping up to the upper level by the open window. It did not matter if she believed me to be her enemy, I would not fight my daughter.

"Why won't you fight?!" Karai screamed. "_Coward…!_"

I felt my heart break as I turned and ran out through the window. I ran over to the ledge and leapt out, diving and landing on the concreate below. As soon as I did I felt myself stumble backwards and my back fell against the wall. I clutched at my robe, breathing deeply, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Miwa…" I whispered in a ragged voice that did not sound like my own.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

"April O'Neil… your mind belongs to Kraang… Soon, your world will be ours! Let the planetary mutation… begin…"

"That thing is so nasty," I whispered, and Raph nodded.

We all slipped through the shaft, crawling down the long cables and wires. I looked down at the disgusting, giant Kraang, and then down at April. She was strapped onto a metal table, her head hooked up to a strange machine that seemed to be extracting something from her.

"Witness the end of your kind!" the Kraang screamed gleefully.

"Not if we can help it!" Leo called out.

The creature blinked, then turned its ugly head up at us.

"The turtles?!" it screeched. "Kraang will not be stopped by pathetic mutants!"

"At least we're not stupid aliens!" Mikey jeered.

"Raph, quick!"

Raph did as Leo ordered, and lunged forward, aiming a powerful kick right between the Kraang monster's eyes. As the alien screeched, the others and I climbed down the cables. I stayed behind to help keep an eye on Angus and Vanessa as Donnie went over to help April. I watched as Donnie managed to get the metal table to come down. The arms holding April released her and he removed the device from her head. She almost fell forward, but Donnie caught her in his arms. A second later she lifted her head, and gazed up at him, grinning.

"You're my hero…" she said dreamily.

Donnie's face went straight up pink as he giggled happily at her. I heard Vanessa giggle from above, and I covered my mouth to hold in my laughter.

"Hey, Chuckles," Raph said seriously, making Donnie glare at him. "We gotta get outta here."

Donnie nodded. "Let's go!"

Donnie lifted April onto his shell, carrying her as they all started to climb back up the cables.

"And we go back," Vanessa said tiredly, her and Angus climbing back up.

It took us 10 minutes to find an exit. We had to get back to the chambers so that we could find an escape pod to get out of here. Donnie stayed in the middle of the group, still carrying April on his back. I stayed in the back to keep Angus and Vanessa safe, though they had been doing okay on their own. The others were leading the group, keeping us safe and blocking the lasers of the Kraang droids.

Eventually, we reached the end of the hall we were running down and reached a room. I looked up and saw the long, hallway of chambers above us. We would all have to climb to get to one of the pods. I reached behind me and pulled out a grappling hook. I pointed up as high as it could go, and shot it out. The hook landed about halfway up and hooked onto one of the levels.

"Angus, here," I said, thrusting the rope into his hands. "You're gonna have to climb. Vanessa-"

"I got it, dudette!"

Mikey ran forward and turned in front of Vanessa. She grinned before wrapping her arms around his neck and leaping up onto his shell. At that moment, several more aliens from above started charging down at us, firing lasers at us. We all started leaping up onto the levels, trying to get as high as we could. I stayed behind a bit just to keep an eye on Angus, who was climbing as fast as he could, but still falling behind. Suddenly, there was a loud creaking sound, and the walls began to fall forward. It seemed that the Technodrome was turning for some reason.

The turning stopped once the hall we were climbing was flattened enough for us to walk on. We all straightened up and the others began running forward. I ran back towards Angus and helped him to his feet.

"Angus, c'mon! We gotta go!"

He nodded quickly, and as soon as he was up we started sprinting forward. A few Kraang floated towards us, but I knocking two of them back with my kamas, and Angus punched one with his knuckles. Up ahead, several Kraang droids appeared and started firing at us. The others that were up ahead sliced and knocked them out, clearing the rest of the way for us.

"Leo, I have a question!" Mikey yelled, now running side-by-side with Vanessa.

"Can it wait?"

"Not really! Did we beat that big Kraang thingy?"

"Yes, Mikey, we did!" Leo said, sounding annoyed.

"Okay…! Then why is it following us?!"

That made us all stop in our tracks. I turned around, and to my horror I saw that giant Kraang monster was indeed following us. It appeared that the metal sphere it was in wasn't just for show. It was attached to a large, metal suit, which made it look taller and bigger than before. I screeched loudly, stomping towards us. Instantly, we all turned and started sprinting forward as fast as we could.

"Angus," I yelled. "Go up ahead and stay with the others! I'm gonna stay behind and make sure no one falls back!"

"Got it!"

Angus sped forward, landing in the middle of the group. The Kraang screamed, now purposely stomping its metal feet to try and crush us. Then, there was a loud wiring sound, and suddenly it started shooting beams of electricity at us, causing the areas it hit to explode.

"Everybody, there's one last escape pod up ahead!" Donnie yelled at us.

He was right. Ahead of us, just about 50 feet away, was a single escape pod. If we could just stay ahead of the monster, then we could out run it, get into the pod, and leave without worries.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, the Kraang's metal foot stomped down, and Mikey was knocked down into one of the chambers below. He screamed, and Leo and I skidded to a halt. We looked at each other, nodded, and instantly ran back towards him. The Kraang leaned forward to look down the chamber Mikey fell through, and the gun on top of his head started to power up.

"Get away from my brother!" Leo screamed.

He leapt forward, raising his katana, and sliced the gun off of the Kraang's head. I slid forward on my knees, stopping at the edge. Mikey was a few feet down the chamber, pressing his hands and feet against the wall to keep from falling.

"Mikey, up here!" I yelled down at him.

I reached my hand down, and he reached into his belt and took our one of his nunchucks. He swung one end up, and I caught it and used it to pull him up. Leo landing beside me to help me, grabbing the nunchuck and helping pull Mikey up. As soon as he was out, we all turned and ran forward, Mikey sprinting ahead of us. The others were already in the escape pod, waiting for us.

"There's nowhere for you to run, mutants!" the Kraang yelled.

We ignored him and continued running forward. Mikey was ahead of us and got into the pod with the others. We were about to join them when the monster stopped his metal foot hard, shaking the floor.

"Leo! Nia!" Donnie yelled.

Leo and I skidded to a halt, turning to look at Kraang, who wasn't that far away from us.

"All of you will die here!"

This was bad. This was very, very bad. He wasn't that far away, we'd never make it out in time. I glanced over at Leo, hoping he had a plan for this. I saw he was glaring at Kraang, his face firm and set. At that moment, I could hear Sensei's words from before echoing in my head.

"_With the world at stake, the only thing of importance is that you complete your mission. No matter what you have to sacrifice… or who."_

I suddenly realized that Leo did in fact have a plan, and I was having none of it.

"Don't do it," I said lowly.

Leo glanced over at me. "Don't do what?"

"Don't do what you're thinking."

"You don't know what I'm thinking.

"That's bull and you know it."

Kraang screeched, stomping closer towards us. If I was going to do something, I had to do it now. Leo sighed and looked away from me.

"There's no other way, Nia," he said. "If I don't do this, then we all die."

I shook my head. "Why does it have to be you?"

"I'm the leader, it's my responsibility."

I looked at Leo firmly, then looked up at Kraang who was getting closer and closer. I sighed, hanging my head slightly.

"You're right… you are the leader, and it is up to you."

Leo nodded, and gripped the nunchucks in his hands. But, I grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"But, I made a promise to Sensei that his boys would get home safely," I whispered. "And I intend to keep that promise… no matter what."

And before Leo could do anything I snatched the nunchucks from him and kicked him in the torso, knocking him back against the pod. I whipped around and sprinted forward, yanking the chain out to its maximum length. I heard the others call after me, but I ignored them. I kept running until I was at Kraang's feet, then whipped the chain out as I leapt up into the air. I leapt all around him, tangling his arms and legs into the chain. When I finally had him tied up, I landed behind him, holding onto the chain with all my strength. I took out one of my knives, shoving it through the chain and sticking it to the ground. It wouldn't last more than a few seconds, and I held onto the rest of the chain. Kraang screeched, pulling against the restraints.

"Nia, get back here!" Leo yelled.

"No!" I shouted. "You guys gotta leave, now!"

"Nia, are you crazy!" Raph shouted.

"We're not leaving you, dudette!" cried Mikey.

"I wasn't asking!" I snapped.

The chain snapped off the knife, and I dug the heels of my feet into the floor, holding on the chain. The metal was cutting into my palms now and I could feel them start to bleed, but I continued to hold on.

"Nia, I am giving you a direct order!" Leo shouted at me. "Get back over here!"

"There's no time to argue!" I screamed. "I can't hold him for long! You gotta get them out, now!"

Even though I could barely see him, I could tell he understood. I gritted my teeth, holding onto the chain as hard as I could. I heard Leo shout, "Let's go!" I felt relieved for a moment. I heard Raph start to argue, but I saw Donnie pull him back as Leo got into the pod.

"Nia!" Raph yelled.

"We gotta go now!"

Mikey closed the glass shield, and the pod started to fly back. Suddenly, the chains on Kraang broke, and I fell back, landing on my side. My bloody hands slammed on the floor, and they stung painfully. I looked up to see the pod shoot back out of the door just as Kraang swung at them. The others were safe.

I looked around frantically, wondering if there was some way out. Then, I stood up onto my feet and started sprinting forward. I ran out from underneath the Kraang and towards the door. I took out my kama, aiming it at the door, hoping beyond hope that I could bust through.

* * *

**Raph's P.O.V.**

"_Lavinia…_"

The last thing I saw was the chains breaking and Nia falling onto her back before the pod shot back, pulling us through the door. The second we were outside the pod started to fall, until it finally landed in the East River. The pod floated back up to the surface and the shield flew opened.

"I… I can't believe it!" said Donnie. "We made it!"

There was a loud sound from behind us, and we all turned to see the Technodrome falling out of the sky. It kept falling and falling until finally, it crashed into the water. The movement shifted the surface, making the pod tilt. Vanessa tripped and fell, and Mikey helped her to her feet. As the pod started to settle, we all looked to see the Technodrome was slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the water.

"Nia!" Mikey cried. "No…!"

We all watched sadly as we saw the last bit of the Technodrome sink below the surface. It was over.

"I can't believe she's gone…" Mikey whimpered.

"Nia…" Donnie sighed.

April let out a soft noise, leaning into Donnie's chest.

"No…" Angus breathed.

Vanessa, who was actually crying now, whipped around and threw herself at Angus, who hugged her back tightly. I stumbled back until I met the wall of the pod, and I fell down onto the floor. Nia… Nia was gone. Just like that. Every fiber in my body was screaming in protest, but I knew it was true. I looked up when I heard Leo groan.

"This is all my fault," he said angrily. "I shouldn't have let her! I could've… I should've just…"

He let out a shaky breath as he fell to his knees, his face in his hands.

"It wasn't your fault," I told him in a toneless voice. "Nia wouldn't have left any of us in there. She… she was too good for her own safety."

I sighed, lowering my head. _God… how are we supposed to explain this to Splinter?_

"Aw, that's so sweet."

I snapped my head up.

"…Nia?"

I whipped my head around, and gasped. Nia was in the water, swimming slowly towards us. Her head was threatening to go under, but she managed to keep her face up. She smiled as she floated towards us.

"Hey guys," she said in a breathless voice. "How's it going?"

Me and Leo sprang to our feet. The others all gasped, looking delighted.

"Nia…!" I gasped. "You… you idiot! You scared the shell out of us!"

She grinned, and weakly lifted her hands out. She nearly fell below the surface, but Leo and I instantly grabbed her arms and pulled her in gently. She fell onto the floor, looking very tired. At once, I sprung forward and wrapped my arms around her, Leo, Mikey and Donnie doing the same. At once, we all started cheering and laughing.

"We won…!" Mikey cried out joyfully. "Aw man, I love you bros!"

"Hell yeah!" Angus yelled out, and Nia laughed.

There was loud splashing all around us, and I looked up. All of the pods that were inside the Technodrome were popping up out of the water. Men, women, children, even animals were coming out. The people all cheered and yelled, happy to me safe and alive.

I turned to look at Nia as the others released her. She grinned at me, and I grinned back. Then I reached up and smacked the back of her head.

"Don't ever do that again!" I snapped.

She chuckled. "Yes, mother."

I rolled my eyes. Then my gaze landed on her hands. They were severely cut up and bleeding a lot. I grabbed them and glared at them sternly.

"Donnie, bandages."

Donnie instantly went forward, holding a roll of white bandage in his hands. He unrolled it and started wrapping it around her palms. Nia shivered, now looking pretty cold. Angus quickly took of his green flannel and knelt down, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"What were you thinking?" Leo said, half laughing.

Nia didn't answer immediately. She waited until Donnie was done wrapping her hands before turning and smiling at Leo.

"I told you. I promised Sensei you guys would get home, and you know I never break promises."

Leo stared at her in disbelief. Then he shook his head, reaching forward and pulling her into another hug.

"That stupid moral of yours is gonna get yourself killed."

Nia chuckled, hugging him back.

* * *

**Nia's P.O.V.**

"You sure you're good?"

"Raph, I didn't lose that much blood," I said, my voice a little scratchy. "I'm fine, I promise."

He nodded. As we entered the lair once more, the first thing I did was go to the dojo. I had to see Splinter. I shuffled slowly towards the dojo, and I could feel the other's eyes on me as I did. I walked up the steps and entered the dojo. I smiled. Sensei was inside, standing in front of his shrine. I walked in.

"Sensei?"

He turned.

"Children…"

I glanced behind me. The others were all standing behind me. I guess they followed me and I didn't notice. I turned back to Sensei, walking forward slowly.

"We did it, Sensei," I said lowly. "We stopped the Kraang. We… we saved the world."

Sensei stared at me. Then marched forward and grabbed my arms gently.

"Lavinia, what happened?" he asked. "Your hands… what did you do?"

I lowered my head. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I know what you said before, and I know I said I would listen, but…"

Before I could finish, Sensei gently pulled me forward and embraced me into a hug. I grinned and hugged him back.

"I am so proud of you, child," he whispered to me. "All of you. You have all done so greatly. I am honored to call you my children."

As soon as he said that I heard footsteps as the other came in and joined in the hug. I chuckled tearfully as we sat there for a few moments before breaking apart.

"Alright, boys!" said Vanessa. "How's about we order some Antonio's? Dinner is on me!"

"Yes!" Mikey cheered. "Nothing is better than free food!"

Thirty minutes later had us in the living gorging on pizza, laying around the living room. Mikey was so happy and enthusiastic that he had started chanting.

"Who saved the world?"

"WE SAVE THE WORLD!"

"I said, who saved the world?!"

"WE SAVED THE WORLD!"

"I SAID-!"

"Stop asking!" Raph snapped.

Mikey blinked, finally stopping his chant.

"We saved the world…" he mumbled.

Then, Raph grabbed one of the many pizza boxes that lay all over the living room, and smacked it in Mikey's face. The box fell to reveal a smiling Mikey with a slice of pizza in his mouth.

"You can't keep chanting forever, Mikey," Vanessa giggled, taking a bite of her own pizza.

I laughed as I ate the last of my crust. As I glanced around I saw April walking into the dojo. Curiously, I followed her. I continued walking until I was at the entrance. April was standing behind Splinter, who seemed to be looking at the old photo of his family. This made me slightly confused, but I was distracted from this by April talking.

"Sensei, I want to apologize… for the way I spoke to you earlier…"

Splinter placed the photo back onto the shelf before turning around.

"No need," he said gently. "You spoke what was in your heart. I am just relieved that you made it home safely."

I grinned. Then, Sensei raised his head, and his eyes met me.

"Lavinia," he said. "Please, come here."

I blinked and slowly walked forward until I was standing next to April.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to intrude-"

"No no," Sensei said a little quickly. "It is not that."

Splinter took a step towards me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Lavinia, what you have done this evening has proven to me that you have grown greatly and beautifully since I first saw you over seven years ago. You've shown what it takes to truly be a kunoichi, and a protector of this family," he placed his hand on the side of my face. "I have never been prouder of you… my daughter."

I smiled up at him lovingly.

"Thank you, father."

I thought I saw his face shift slightly at that, but he continued to smile down at me as he removed his hand. Still, I couldn't help but notice that he looked a little more stressed than usual.

"What's wrong, Sensei?" I heard Leo ask. He must've come in behind me.

"I learned some things from the Shredder…" Sensei said lowly, but didn't continue after that.

I frowned. "What things, Sensei?"

Splinter blinked, then looked down at me and Leo. He smiled.

"That's for another time, my children," he said, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. "Tonight, is for celebration! After all, it is not every day you make the world safe from an alien invasion."

"Can't argue with that logic," I said, making Leo laugh.

"You got that right!" Mikey said, suddenly appearing with the others, throwing his arms over our shoulders. "Everybody! Who saved the world…?!"

"Mikey," we all said, sounding annoyed.

Mikey groaned.

"WE SAVED THE WORLD!" we all cried, leaping into the air.

The rest of the day is spend relaxing and having fun at the lair. Vanessa and Angus' folks were still severely worried, but they managed to convince them that they were fine and that they were staying at my place to be safe. We had some fun eating more pizza and playing video games all afternoon. I stomped Raph at Smash Bros., and Mikey destroyed Angus as Mario Kart. Everyone had a turn at playing and defeating each other. After a while, we were just laying around and relaxing. Angus was in a mood to play a little music, so I let him borrow my guitar for a bit.

"Dudes, this day was crazy," said Mikey, who was laying down on the couch with his head in Vanessa's lap.

"That's the understatement of the century," said Donnie.

"Only word I could think of," said April.

"Hey, we all got through it didn't we?" I said. "We all made it home, right?"

"Because of you," said Leo. "We wouldn't have made it out of there without you, Nia."

I felt my cheeks go pink as I smiled, scooting into the beanbag chair more. I heard Raph snort as he nudged my arm, and I shoved him playfully.

"Man, this guitar plays beautifully," said Angus, who had been playing randomly this whole time. "How long have you had it, Nia?"

"Since I was 11," I said. "That's when I first started learning how to play."

"Hey, what was the first song you could play?"

"Huh?"

"The first song you could ever play," he repeated. "Yah know, the first one you were able to play good. Mine was 'Walk the Line' by Jonny Cash. My mom loves old music like that," he answered sheepishly as the guys all looked at him funny.

I giggled. "Nice."

"Well, what was yours, Nia?" asked April.

"Aw, it wasn't anything special," I said, waving it off.

"C'mon girl, what was it?" asked Vanessa.

"Oh… it was just this little lullaby Sensei taught me. It was called, uh… 'Hushaby Mountain', I think."

"I know that one!" said Angus. "Did it go like this?"

Angus sat up a little, and started laying again. The second the tune started I instantly recognized it.

"Oh, yeah!" I said excitedly. "This is it! Man, I haven't sung it in years. If I remember the lyrics…"

It was then that I noticed everyone was looking at me with expectant smiles on their faces. I rolled my eyes. I should've seen this coming.

"Alright, alright."

Vanessa clapped excitedly, and I giggled. Angus smiled and started the music over again. I listened closely to the tune, trying to remember the lyrics.

_**A gentle breeze, from Hushabye Mountain…  
**__**Softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay…  
**__**It fills the sails of boats that are waiting…  
**__**Waiting to sail your worries away…**_

_**It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain…  
**__**And your boat waits down by the que…  
**__**The winds of night, so softly are sighing…  
**__**Soon they will fly your troubles to sea…**_

_**So close your eyes, on Hushabye Mountain…  
**__**Wave goodbye, to cares of the day…  
**__**And watch your boat on Hushabye Mountain…  
**__**Sail far away from Lullaby Bay…**_

I took a deep breath and sighed. It had been so long since I had sung that song, and it felt so good to sing it again.

"That was lovely," said April.

"Yeah."

* * *

By the time it was 5pm we were all very exhausted. We probably should've slept earlier, but we were so happy that we had to celebrate earlier. Vanessa, Angus and April all finally went home an hour ago. The guys and I had decided to turn in really early. Mikey and Donnie had already turned in and had gone to sleep. Raph was just laying in his room, and so was Leo. I was super tired, but I was also pretty dirty due to the fact that I had to take a dip in the East River. I took some time to myself to take a long, warm shower. It felt as though it had been a long time since I had taken some time to myself in such a way.

After taking shower I dressed in more comfortable clothes. All I put on were pair of soft, white mini shorts, and Angus' green flannel. I tried to give it back to him, but he said that I could keep it. I towel-dried my soaking wet hair as I walked towards the bedrooms. I stopped when I reached Leo's room. The door was ajar, and I could see Leo laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. I grinned and knocked on his door slightly.

"Hey."

He looked up from his pillow. "Hey," he sat up quickly. "You're still up?"

"Yeah, I was just about to go to bed. Why are you up?"

"Eh… having some trouble falling asleep."

I smiled. "Well, I got something that might help you out."

I bent over and picked up Donnie's laptop that I had set on the floor. I held it up and took a step inside the room.

"What's with Donnie's laptop?" Leo asked.

"I asked him if I could borrow it before I went to bed."

"And…?"

I smirked, and then opened up the laptop. It was open to a website I had pulled up before closing it. It was a site where people uploaded cartoon series, and someone happened to upload the last episode of 'Space Heroes' from last night. The second Leo saw the episode on the screen he gasped and ran forward.

"Wha- really?!"

I nodded. "I figured you at least deserved to finish it after all of this."

Leo stared at the computer with his jaw hanging open for a moment. A second later he gave a loud gasped and grabbed the laptop, beaming with delight.

"Nia, you're amazing! Thank you!"

And just like that, Leo pulled me forward and kissed me on the cheek. I giggled, blushing slightly.

"No problem, bro."

Leo smiled at me before turning around and hopping onto his bed, opening the laptop. I grinned as I slowly shut his bedroom door.

I made my way to my own room, feeling very sleepy now. I shut the door as I made my way to my bed, still drying my hair with the towel.

"Oh man…" I sighed.

Then, I heard a knock at my door. I looked up. The others should be asleep right now. Maybe Leo accidently exited the site and needed help or something? I stood up, dropping my towel as I reached up and opened the door. I was surprised to see Raph standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey dude," I said. "I thought you were asleep."

"Nah, not yet," he said.

I backed up, gesturing him to come in. He walked passed me and I shut the door behind me.

"That was kinda cool what you did for Leo."

"Oh, you saw that?"

"Kinda hard not to see that dork fanboy over his crap. How's your hands?"

"Oh," I looked down at my palms, which had been wrapped in new, clean gauze by Donnie since arriving home. "They still really sting, but Don says I'll be okay. But, he gave me strict instructions not to handle my weapons or play my guitar until they've healed. Real pain in the ass if you ask me."

I chuckled. Raph grinned slightly, then he looked me up at down.

"Hey, isn't that Angus' shirt?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, holding the end of the flannel. "I was gonna give it back, but he said I could keep it. Said it looked better on me anyway."

Raph nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. I frowned as I noticed the stern look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, but I wasn't having any of it.

"It's what happened today, isn't it?"

"…Kinda, yeah."

I sighed. "Are you upset?"

Raph sighed deeply, then turned to face me completely.

"Look, Nia… what you did for us was awesome, really, it was. It was great, but…"

He paused. I had a feeling of where this was going. I fiddled with my hands as I walked over to my bed and sat down on the edge of it. I gave Raph a small nod.

"It was great, but… stupid!" Raph snapped, suddenly angry. "You scared the hell out of us! Do you have any idea what it was like thinking you were…"

"Raph," I said. "It's okay. I knew what I was doing. Look, I'm sorry if I scared you guys, but I had to do something. Leo's our leader, we'd be lost if we didn't have him. And you guys need him more than you need me, so-"

I was cut off as lunged forward, grabbing me by the collar and pulling me forward. I gasped, staring into his eyes. I've never seen him so angry before.

"Don't," he breathed. "Ever… say that. Don't ever assume that we need you less or not at all. Don't! Do you have any idea how much we need you? We'd have no idea what we'd do without you. None!"

I blinked up at him, staring in surprise. Raph's grip on the flannel loosened and his eyes softened. He sighed, hanging his head down. I relaxed slightly, looking down at him sadly and with concern. Slowly, I reached up and grabbed his hands, gently pulling them off of the shirt. Raph stood there for a moment before looking up at me. It almost looked like his eyes were watering, but for the sake of his pride I decided to say nothing about it.

"Raph… I can't promise I won't do something like that again," I said gently. "You guys are my family, and I'm never gonna stop fighting for you."

Raph's eyes narrowed and he looked away. I took one of my hands and placed it on his shoulder.

"But, I can promise that you'll never loose me."

Raph looked back up at me, looking slightly confused. I grinned at him.

"C'mon dude, you know us. It's gonna take a lot more than the Kraang to keep away from you guys. And that's a promise I'm happy to make."

Raph stared at me, mouth slightly open. A second later he closed his mouth and nodded slightly. I grinned at him and pulled him in for a hug. He was still for a moment, then wrapped an arm around me, hugging me tightly. How long we sat there, I had no idea. We continued hugging for what felt like an hour before he finally loosened his surprisingly tight grip on me. I sat back, grinning up at him. He stared at me for a long time, his eyes never leaving mine. Then, I felt one of his hand press against my cheek. I glanced down at it, then up at him. He still didn't say anything, but continued to stare down at me. Then, he sighed, and leaned in close to me.

Before I could ask I felt him kiss my cheek. It wasn't like the kiss that Leo had given me. This was soft, and surprisingly tender, and for some reason it put a bubbling sensation in my stomach. I felt him back away from me, but before I could even full register what happen, Raph turned and quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

I sat there, staring at my bedroom door for what felt like hours. Fingers felt tingly and stomach was fluttering. I gulped, and swallowed the large lump that had formed in my throat.

"What the shell…?"

* * *

**OOHH! And the plot only thickens! So much plot, so much reveal, what could it mean? Only I know, and only I will tell! But! Not until i come back... For season 2!**

**Now, about Season 2... I'm wanting to take a little break before i get into it. I just got out of my first year of college, i have an online summer class to do, and i just got a new puppy and i need to take care of her. I got a lot of stuff right now, but don't worry! I will be back soon! Just keep an eye out for season 2 when it comes. And, when it does, i severely hope you guys like it as much as you liked this one.**

**That's all for now. Please leave a review, it helps me alot, and i will see you guys later. BYE!**


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